


From My Universe To Yours

by SkyFallSlayer



Series: From My Universe To Yours [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alchemy, Alphonse's Doppelganger, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Big Brother Jean Havoc, Blood and Gore, Breda's Doppelganger, CPR, Crying, Depressing scenes, Dopplegangers, Drowning, Edward's Doppelganger, Edwin is real in this fic, Explicit Language, F/M, Falman's Doppelganger, Flame Alchemy, Fuery's Doppelganger, Gen, Gun Violence, Havoc's Dippelganger, Hughes' Doppelganger, I REGRET NOTHING, Kidnapping, Maes Hughes Lives, Multi, Mustang's Team, Parental Maes Hughes, Parental Riza Hawkeye, Parental Roy Mustang, Riza's Doppelganger, Roy's Doppelganger, So much angst, Solf J Kimblee's Doppelganger, Swordfighting, Team Bonding, Team mustang as a family, Time Travel, Winry's Doppelganger, You Have Been Warned, emotional breakdowns, everyone's a bad ass, evil riza hawkeye, evil roy mustang, so is Royai, so much crying, space travel, team as a family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:41:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 60,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21798511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyFallSlayer/pseuds/SkyFallSlayer
Summary: From behind the wall, the figure watched as the two brothers hopped into Hughes’ car that was parked by, and continued to watch until it disappeared from his sight.A set of heavy feeling took over him,sucking in a shaky breath and spoke so scarcely, “Oh…”A single teardrop rolled down his cheek.“That’s why it didn’t work…”Or,Team Mustang and Hughes meet a shocking, but familiar face who comes with a warning and a cry for help. Can they help send this mysterious person back to their world before it's too late?
Relationships: Alex Louis Armstrong & Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric & Team Mustang, Alphonse Elric & Riza Hawkeye, Alphonse Elric & Roy Mustang, Alphonse Elric & Winry Rockbell, Edward Elric & Riza Hawkeye, Edward Elric & Roy Mustang, Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Heymans Breda & Vato Falman & Kain Fuery & Jean Havoc & Riza Hawkeye & Roy Mustang, Jean Havoc & Other(s), Maes Hughes & Roy Mustang, Maes Hughes & Team Mustang, Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Series: From My Universe To Yours [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1570801
Comments: 33
Kudos: 81





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! It's SkyFallSlayer!  
> This is my first fanfic into the wonderful Fandom!  
> Now there's a few things I would like to note before you begin reading:  
> 1) Maes Hughes is Alive in this story  
> 2) In this story, Roy's office is in Central even though he doesn't have it till after Hughes' death.  
> 3) This is set in the Brotherhood Universe.  
> 4) The prologue is short, but the rest of the chapters will be longer.
> 
> That's it! I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy my story!

_This _Autumn morning was going to be different, it was going to be unlike any other morning. Even though the wind still blew lightly and leaves were falling off the trees and onto the ground, just how Autumn was suppose to be, it was different. In a small alleyway inside the city of Central is where the abnormal day began. There was a sudden spark in the air, then it turned into a heaping bundle of red light, shaking everything around it before something popped out, falling to the ground as the light disappeared abruptly. The loud thug scared a few alley cats and city rats away and tipped over a few trash cans, rolling off into uncontrollable directions.__

__This something groaned, trying to get up after face planting into the repulsive place. “Ow….” He said, rubbing his sore head before sitting up fully. He blinked, trying to get the blurriness that tainted his eye, cursing at his unforeseen blindness. He thanked whatever being that was listening that it was only temporary. Which it was, he could now see somewhat clearly as he began looking at his surroundings. “Did… did it work?” He brought his right hand up to left eye only to feel fabric and nothing else. His one good eye widened, stomach dropping and heart coming to a stop._ _

__“No, no, no, no, no…” He mumbled, standing straight up and running towards the end of the alleyway. Light pants coming from him as he stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, looking around again, then spotting a familiar building in the distance. Central HQ._ _

__“This doesn’t make any sense, Everything looks the same. Then, how come my…?” He trailed off, the sound of betrayal and defeat in his voice as he touched his concealed eye again. A panic look covered his face as he tried to think of an explanation of why it didn’t-_ _

__Then he heard it-a laugh._ _

__It was one that he knew almost too well. He whipped his head around and saw it, saw _him _. The man he saw kept laughing, his back facing his way, but it was him. “Hughes.” He mumbled in disbelief, his shocked face turned into pure joy.___ _

_____“It worked” _He thought, taking a step, then another, and another, and another.__ _ _ _ _

______“Hughes.” He said a little louder as he started getting a bit choked up, feeling the side of his eye well up. He wanted to run over,no, he needs to run over to him. “Hughes! It’s me! It’s-”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!!” Another voice broke through, cutting him off._ _ _ _ _ _

______He froze, his eye widening again. He saw a suit of armor strolling over to the older man, along with a teenager in an overly obnoxious red coat.Both were seen waving at him, happily. “Hello,boys!” Hughes said, waving them over._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Hi, Hughes.” The teenager said._ _ _ _ _ _

______He somehow manages to mentally slap himself, unfreezing and hiding back into the alley, peeking out only the slightest. _“It can’t be." _____ _ _ _ _

________“Edward, Alphonse, How are you two doing?” Hughes asked, in his usual cheerful tone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“We’re good, actually. We’re heading over to Central right now.” The suit of Armor, Alphonse, said._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Oh, is it your first time being in the new office?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Yeah, the Colonel Bastard wants me to come in to report.” The teenager, Edward, replies. Clearly annoyed by revealing it in his tone and facial expression._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Oh, come on, Brother! Be nice!” Alphonse said, scolding his big brother._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“What? This is me being nice! Besides, he probably wants to just brag about his new office.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Brother!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Hughes laughed, shaking his head. “Well, only one way to find out. Do you boys need a ride?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________The brothers looked at each other, and with a silent agreement, Edward smiled. “Do you mind?” He asked, looking at the soldier._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Not at all.Come on!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________From behind the wall, the figure watched as the two brothers hopped into Hughes’ car that was parked by, and continued to watch until it disappeared from his sight.A set of heavy feeling took over him,sucking in a shaky breath and spoke so scarcely, “Oh…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________A single teardrop rolled down his cheek._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“That’s why it didn’t work…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	2. A Familiar Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The intruder stepped out with just a couple steps, coming into the light, and it made everything in the room stop at once. The creaking floors, the swinging door, the constant ticking of the clock, everything stopped at once. Alphonse tensed along with his brother whose mouth was opened in a silent gasp, both of them had their eyes glued to the figure before them. 
> 
> They were shocked…. Surprised…  
> Because the person standing before them was…  
> Edward?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins...

A metal foot slammed against the newly made wooden door, busting it wide open to startled everyone in the room. "I'm here with my report, Colonel Bastard!" Ed yelled, all mighty and proud.

"Jesus, Chief, are you trying to give me a hard attack?" Havoc asked, clenching his chest. He was currently at his desk doing work along with the other team members, Falman, Fuery, and Breda. 

"My bad, Havoc." 

The Colonel sighed from behind his desk, feeling a sudden headache taking place. "Fullmetal, this is a brand new office! Can you try not to damage it?!" Roy yelled, eye twitching.

It was so peaceful all morning…  
Now, it's been ruined. 

Edward just chuckled and gave him one of his cheeky grins in response. "Um… Hi, Colonel." Al said, dunking under the doorway to get in. He gave a small wave.

"Hi, Alphonse." Roy said, calming down a little. His shoulders relaxing. 

“Goodmorning, Alphonse. Goodmorning, Edward.” Riza greeted, coming into the office with a stack of paper in hand.

“Goodmorning, Lieutenant!” The brothers said in union. Riza smiled and made her way to her desk near her superior’s, who gave her a slight nod as a greeting. 

“So,Central’s a little bit farther away from your dorm room; Did you walk all the way here?” Roy asked, looking back at the Elric brothers. He leaned into his hands,waiting for their response.

“No, we did for a little bit, but Mr. Hughes drove us.” Al replies,shaking his head. And right on cue, Hughes seemed to pop out of nowhere. 

“Roy, My good man! How’s your new office!?” He said to his friend.

The infamous Flame alchemist groaned, head dropping. “Hughes, it’s been a week since I've moved in here, why do you keep asking?” He asked, annoyed. He could feel his headache growing even more now.

“Cause, I just wanted to annoy you.”

“Damn you, why did my office have to be near yours?” He rubbed his temples in a circular motion.

Hughes chuckled. “Even you if you weren’t, I would find you.”

“Okay, that’s creepy.” Roy said, giving him a weird look, earning another round of laughter from his friend.

Edward stood nearby, clearing his throat, catching the adults’ attention. “As much as I would love to see you two tease each other, I would like to give you my report. Bastard.” He replies, holding up his report.

“Well, look at that...You actually came in to report, Huh? I didn’t think your short legs would make it from the dorm to here in time.” Roy teased, smirking.

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL THAT YOU HAVE TO SEE THEM WITH A MAGNIFYING GLASS?!?!?!” Ed exploded, his voice bouncing off the walls making everyone wince slightly. 

Roy laughed, holding out his hand. “Alright, alright, let’s see your report, pipsqueak.”

“WHAT?!” 

And for the next hour was the loudest, but not uncommon, fight between the Flame and Fullmetal Alchemists. 

***break***

"Goddamnit.” He cursed, trying to unlock the door, to no prevail. He sighed, a quick glance around the military dorm room halls to make sure no soldiers were roaming (Which there weren’t any, so perfect). The figure clapped his hands and touched the door knob, light engulfing it for second before the door swung wide open. He smiled to himself, going into the dorm and closing the door behind him. He let out a breath that he’s been holding for quite some time as he was finally to his destination, His home… well, sort of. 

The truth is, he needs help. His plan to find Hughes failed and the only way to change it is to get help. Now, all he had to do was wait for the Elric’s to return and try to explain (and hope that they don’t think that he’s Envy in disguise,because he’s not). All he wanted to do was explain himself ... but how? How could he explain the situation? To explain himself? To explain his appearance without them freaking out? 

How? That’s the one thing he can’t figure out himself either…

He sighed once again and decided to walk around the dorm to clear his jumbled mind, but everything looked the same. The flooring, the walls, the kitchen placement, the bedroom, the bathroom, everything was the same. Just like he remembered… It made his heart hurt to look at all this.

He felt a soft nudge at his feet, and looked down to find a grey tabby cat meowing at him. His dry lips turned up into a smile.

 _“That's the same. He use to bring cats home too…”_ His mind wandered to a memory. His smile faded because of it and his lip quivered as he held back a few tears. _"No, no, don't cry. You have to be strong, you have to be, just until this is all over."_

He took in a shaky breath to calm himself, the cat chirping at his feet, nudging him again. He tried to smile, even for a little bit, even if it was fake, as he bent down to scratch it's head, the cat purring in return. He chuckled. "You almost look like his, the only difference is the color." 

After calming his nerves he stood back up once more and continued to look around. His fingertips lightly brushing certain objects, his eye looked around in a bittersweet way as a smile or frown tugged on his lips occasionally. He managed to stumble into the bedroom, a small room with two beds tucked into each corner, accompanied with a side table. A lamp and books were on top, but only one of the tables had a small picture frame on it. He seemed drawn to it as he inched closer and closer to it, finally his concealed hands grabbed it slowly but gently. He brought it up close to get a better look and for a second time today (or maybe it was his third?), his heart hurt again.

Two little boys along with a woman were in the picture. The boy wearing a white jacket accompanied by a black shirt had short, blonde hair that seemed like gold; The other boy wore a tank top, his golden hair (which was slightly darker) was also short. Both of them scoring amber eyes that seemed to be bright and lively. The woman seemed young, her chestnut hair tied into a side ponytail, her almost emerald eyes held happiness as she hugged the two boys like the loving mother she was. All of them were smiling in the grassy field and cloudless sky.

Finally, he got choked up and collapsed onto the bed next to him. He swallowed the heavy bile in his throat as his eye glassed over with fresh tears that have yet to fall. Everything was the same. Hughes, the dorm room, this picture… the woman in this picture looked like her. Exactly like _his_ mother.

“M-mom...:” He whispered as a tear rolled down his cheek. He sobbed quietly, not noticing as the time ticked by fast and night time almost arriving. But what broke him out of his long time trance was the sound of the front door unlocking and opening. 

He froze. “Shit, I haven’t actually thought about how I was going to explain this to them.” He thought, panicking.

Footsteps were heard from the living area and two voices broke out in long whispers. 

“Brother, what’s wrong?” One asked, in a soft, gentle tone.

He recognizes that voice immediately. _“Alphonse"_ .

“I don’t think we’re alone,Al.” Another answers. 

And deep down, he knew he screwed up.

***break***

“Awe, that was good.” Ed said, patting his full belly. He leaned back in the chair, satisfied with his meal. The two Elric brothers were sitting outside in a local restaurant, the oldest has just suffocated his food down. 

Al shook his head at his brother’s eating habits. “Ed, couldn’t you have eaten a little bit slower? You could of given yourself a stomach ache.” He asked, concern.

“Relax, Al, I’m fine. Remember? I’m eating for the both of us.” Ed replies, shrugging him off, and cleaning his teeth with a toothpick. 

“You’re just using that as an excuse to chow down your food.” 

“Maybe, or maybe not.” Ed puts on his coat, fixing it as he stands up. “Alright, Al. Let’s go home.” Ed started walking as the creaking of metal and heavy footsteps indicated that his brother was walking- jogging more like- to catch up to him. The eldest smiled to himself.

This day has surprisingly gone well. Sure, Mustang and him had fought and their search for the legendary Philosopher's Stone turned out to be (yet another) dead end, it was going well. Him and Al got to go to the library, do some research, practice sparring in a nearby park, and he got to eat a delicious meal. Yep, It’s a good day so far.

The sky turned into a calming pink and orange color as it seeped into the blue sky, the sun started to set and the air felt cool against their skin.To Edward, it felt nice (Although, he was dreading the coming of Winter. Temperatures below 30 made his ports hurt too much) and enjoyed the calming atmosphere. He could tell Al was too, even though he couldn’t feel anything, the Autumn leaves and sky blessed his soulful eyes with a wonderess sight. Ed let his smile grow and stay on his face all the way back to their dorm room apartment.   
To the brothers, it wasn’t such a pain to walk from here to Central, they honestly didn’t mind the walk (But Ed will never admit that to the Colonel’s face). 

They headed into one of the buildings and up to the second floor to the fifth apartment. The oldest pulled out a key from his coat pocket, inserting and unlocking the door. He pushed it open, coming into his place with the youngest right behind. 

Al closed the door and flipped on the light switch .“Well, that wasn’t such a bad walk, wouldn’t you agree, brother?” He asked, in his usually happy self but when he looked at his sibling, he knew something was wrong. For starters, Ed was glued to the center of the room, he was still as a statue and eyes seemed to wander around the place, observing. 

“Ed?”He said, starting to get worried. But the teen didn't say anything, his eyes still looking around. "Brother, what's wrong?" 

"I don't think we're alone, Al." Ed finally replies, his eyes stopping at their bedroom door which opened slightly. With a serious face and a demanding tone, the eldest Elric spoke loudly, "Hey, who's ever in there, it wasn't very wise of you to intrude a military dorm. Show yourself!" 

Silence fell, it was so quiet they could hear their wall clock ticking. Moments passed and then,they heard a creak in the floorboards. Alphonse got into a fighting stance along with Edward as the floorboard creaked and creaked, the door opening slowly.

“Yeah, that’s right, show yourself. Who are you?” Ed demanded, as the creaking continued. The clock ticking with the sound as the door swung completely opened, also creaking with the unoiled hinges. Their bedroom was dark, all they could make out was a silhouette of someone hesitating, hesitating a lot. The prodigy alchemist held his gaze, waiting for the intruder to step out, and was not prepared for what was coming next.

The intruder stepped out with just a couple steps, coming into the light, and it made everything in the room stop at once. The creaking floors, the swinging door, the constant ticking of the clock, everything stopped at once. Alphonse tensed along with his brother whose mouth was opened in a silent gasp, both of them had their eyes glued to the figure before them. 

They were shocked…. Surprised…  
Because the person standing before them was…  
Edward?! 

He looks like-   
No, it was _Edward_ . But only a few key features were different. For starters, he was taller, and only had one eye. His right eye was the only one left visible as the other one was concealed by a big, bulky, black eye patch. His Amber eye had a green hue to it, his gold-like hair was in a ponytail and his outfit was almost… rebel like? He looked like he was wearing what Edward would wear to work, except it was ruined. The elevator boots were worn out and covered in mud and what looked like to be droplets of blood; both his pants and tank top had tears and holes in it, his black jacket lost it's silver clip and the white trim was almost a mucky grey color; and finally, his signature red coat wasn't even a coat anymore, more like a cloak with the sleeves ripped off, holes with dirt and mud coating it to make a dark crimson-brown color. And his hand… the Automail one, was on the opposite side. It was on his left, looking worn out and busted under the almost translucent glove. 

The two Elric brothers could only stare in confusion. "Wh-Wha… what?" Ed stuttered, barely audible.

The rebel-looking Edward put his hands up in an almost defense-like reason. "Before you say anything,this was not my ideal way to meet." He said.

Oh God, he sounded like Edward too. 

Alphonse was dumbfounded, his own voice telling it all. "H-how? Why do you look and sound like my brother? This has to be done kind of trick!" Al said.

Those words broke Ed out of his trance. He shook his head and pointed at his look alike. "Yeah! Is that you, Envy? Why are you here?!" He yelled.

His look alike shook his head and sighed. "I'm not Envy…" He said, slowly but calmly. 

"Oh yeah? Prove it!" 

Another sigh as he nearly rolled his eyes at himself. "If I was Envy, why would I look like this? Why would I waste my time looking different if I could just look like you?" 

Ed and Al stared again at him, his words sinking in. "Damn, you're right." Ed replies, cussing.

"Look, I know it's hard to believe, but I'm telling you the truth. I'm not Envy." The other said, trying to be reassuring.

"Then, who are you? Why do you look like me?" 

The other Ed stopped to think about how he was going to explain this without it being too complicated. He glanced away before looking at them again. "Have any of you heard of the multiverse theory?" He asked, unsure if they knew about it or not.

"The multiverse theory?" Ed said, in disbelief.

"Yeah, we know it!" Al chimed in.

"So, wait… you're my doppelganger?" 

His look alike nodded, before continuing on. "I am. My name is Edward Elric, I'm from another universe. And I need your help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy Shit! Edward has a Doppelganger?! How is here? and why does he need help?  
> Stay tuned for more!


	3. The Blood King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “There’s something he’s not telling us.” Alphonse replies, in a low voice.
> 
> “Agreed. I think he’s leaving something important out of his story. He claims he’s using the stone in order to go back in time to save his friend, but that’s not the whole story.” Ed adds, thinking.
> 
> “Well, what do you think it is then?” 
> 
> Ed thought for a moment. “I think… I think he might know Hughes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me just start by saying this chapter my be a little confusing because since there's now two Edwards and i'm writing about both, but don't worry! In later chapters he'll go by a different name and you'll see why.  
> Also, sorry about the late update. The holidays are crazy where I live.  
> Anyway, enjoy this new chapter!
> 
> (WARNING: There's Foul Language)

Did Colonel Mustang like his new office? Yes. But does he like the responsibility that came with it? No. 

Moving to Central HQ will boost his career track, but the mounds of paperwork he had to do and meetings he had to attend is a real pain in the ass. And yes, it’s only been a week and Hawkeye’s already shot a few bullets through the roof to get him to stop procrastinating his work (Stupid “warning” shots). I mean, he’s a fucking soldier! A goddamn state alchemist! He should be out on the field working, not stuck doing paperwork behind his desk and staying indoors that felt like 24/7! That’s his only complaint. He’s hoping once he’s Fuhrer he wouldn’t have to do paperwork all day… If only….

Could this day get any worse?  
The night was in and daylight was out, it was exactly midnight as Roy tried to finish up his work. He’s already sent his men home for the day, Riza be the last (Stubborn woman). He chuckled, as he was hoping he won’t pull an all nighter, but of course the phone rang.

His eyes wandered to it. _“Who in the world would be calling this late?”_ He wondered. Debating on whether or not he should answer, he made up his mind on the fifth ring. 

He picked it up, clearing his dry throat before speaking. “Colonel Roy Mustang’s office, Colonel Mustang speaking.” He answers. He heard voices speaking in near whispers, not sure what they were saying. Roy’s eyebrows furrowed. “Who is this? I’m going to hang up if I don’t get an answer.” Then he heard frantic whispers and someone saying, ‘Okay! Okay!’. 

“Um, Colonel, it’s Fullmetal.” 

Roy’s eyes widen with surprise. _“Well this is a surprise."_ Roy shook his head a bit, trying to make sure he sounds professional.

“Fullmetal? It’s Midnight, why are you calling?” He asked. The man heard more whispers, tilting his head at it. _“What’s going on?”_

“Oh, yeah, um… look, I know you probably sent everyone home already, but I need your… help. You and the team’s.” Ed replies, sounding almost hesitant and uncertain.

Roy silently gasp. He couldn’t believe it. The legendary prodigy alchemist was asking for help? _His help _. But why? If he’s asking for help this late at night then something is definitely wrong. He tried not to sound so surprised again. “Me and the team’s? What for? You didn’t get yourself into trouble, right? Cause I haven’t even assigned you a mission yet.”__

__“Um, No, Not exactly….” Roy heard more whispering before Ed spoke again. “I just really need you and the team’s help.”_ _

__Roy swore he heard Ed say ‘Ow’ and saying ‘What?’ in a harsh whisper. Roy then heard him say something about Hughes and a warehouse, but made him even more confused now was why Ed was having a one sided conversation with himself._ _

__“Fullmetal, why are you talking to yourself? And what about Hughes and a warehouse?” Roy finally asked. In response,Ed cursed quietly as even more whispering could be heard._ _

__“Um, Nevermind that! Look, do you know that abandoned warehouse near the park? The old storage facility in the west?” Ed asked._ _

__Roy nodded to himself while answering. “Yeah…”_ _

__“Okay! I need you and the team to meet me and Al there. Oh, and bring Hughes, too!”_ _

__“Fullmetal, what’s going on?”_ _

__“No time to explain! I just need you guys to be there! Okay?.... Okay! Goodbye!”_ _

__“What? Fullme-”_ _

__The phone line went dead. Roy stared a the phone before putting it back on the receiver. “Well, that was weird.” He muttered. The raven haired man just sighed, leaning back into his chair and running his hand through his hair. _“He needs me, Hughes and the team’s help… He’s gotten himself into trouble, didn’t he? But, Fullmetal rarely lies, unless he’s injured, but that’s not the case here I think. Then what is it?”__ _

__***Break*** _ _

__Roy called his subordinates one-by-one, pulling them out of their goodnight sleeps. The first one being Hawkeye, even though she was putting on her usual, serious tone, he could tell she had a hint of worriedness when he told the Elric’s were involved. “I’ll be there in ten.” was all she said before hanging up._ _

__Then, he called Falman, who could tell was annoyed by all reasons of being woken at this hour. But still managed to tell his commanding officer he was on his way. Next, it was Fuery. Not too much sass, just pure tiredness (Roy was just hoping he actually understood what he was saying, because if not, he’s rolling right back in bed). Breda was called afterwards, who cursed under his breath, almost sounding like he was a bit hungover._ _

___“Wait… Did Breda have a date last night?”_ Roy wondered._ _

__Finally, it was Havoc, also annoyed, but understood when Roy told him the brothers were involved and asking for _their_ help. Havoc knew it was all hands on deck and was heading over. _ _

__“Good. That’s them. Now, It’s Hughes.” But what made the Flame alchemist wonder is why Ed wanted Hughes to tag along. It was like Hughes was a last second, almost hesitant, decision. So why? Was it because Hughes was a great investigator? Cause him and Ed are so close? What is it? Roy sighed, dialing his friend’s number he knew by heart and waited for him to pick up._ _

__“H-Hello?” He heard Hughes groaned, answering._ _

__“Hughes, It’s me.” Roy replies._ _

__***Break*** _ _

__Hughes groaned, the phone ringing loudly behind him. He rolled over, blindly reaching for it and bringing it up to his ear. “H-Hello?” He slurred._ _

__“Hughes, it’s me.” Said the voice of his friend._ _

__“R-Roy?... Man, do you not know what time it is?”_ _

__“I do, and sorry, but it’s Fullmetal.”_ _

__“Ed? What’s wrong with him?” Hughes asked, now worried._ _

__“Not sure, but he called me and told me that him and Alphonse need *my help along with yours and my team’s.” Roy replies._ _

__“He called you now? And why me?"_ _

__"Again, not sure. Look, I hate to wake you up, but do you think you can come down here? To the abandoned storage warehouse in the west?"_ _

__Hughes was already sitting up, rubbing his tired eyes. "Y-yeah, of course. Off duty, I'm assuming?" He asked, verifying._ _

__"You're Choice. I already called the others. I’ll see you there.” Roy replies._ _

__“Okay. See you in a minute.” They both hung up, and Hughes stands to puts his clothes on, sliding on some casual clothing. He heard the bed moving and glanced back seeing his wife sitting up slightly._ _

__“Oh, Maes. Where are you going?” She asked, sleepy._ _

__“Sorry, Gracia. Roy just called me, it’s something with the Elric brothers.I need to go.” He replies, fixing the collar on his shirt, before sliding on his shoes. He came around the bed and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I love you.”_ _

__“Love you. Be careful, Maes.” She replies, watching him leave their room, before laying back down._ _

__Hughes hurried across the floor, trying not to wake up his-darling-daughter or the neighbours below. _“It’s almost one in the morning. What in the world have you boys gottening yourselves into?”_ He wondered. _ _

__***Break*** _ _

__Ed was in complete shock by the time his doppelganger finished his tale on why and how he’s here. Now, Ed’s been through a lot of shit in his 15 years of life, But this… this was crazy. Beyond crazy, no… it was fucking insane!!! “Wow, and you need our help to get back?” Ed asked, taking it all in._ _

__“Yes. I know it’s a lot to take in, I’m sorry to overwhelm you both.” His doppleganger, replies._ _

__“Well, no shit! That’s crazy and impossible! There’s no way a Philosopher's stone can jump through space and time!”_ _

__The other Ed just shrugged. “Eh, different universes have different rules.”_ _

__“But that’s crazy!”_ _

__“Is it brother? I mean, jumping through space and time is a little….  
unsettling, but the multiverse theory isn’t. And besides, there’s no way that isn’t _you_ . You two are practically identical!” Al chimed in._ _

__Ed sighed, taking in the other’s appearance some more. “Yeah…. Yeah, you’re right. God, this is insane, and I’ve had two of my limbs ripped off.” He replies, running his hands through his golden hair._ _

__“Look, I'm sorry, but I really need your help.” The other said, looking apologetically at them._ _

___“He’s apologizing? Okay, that’s definitely not me… but it is. Damn, this is confusing the hell out of me.”_ Ed cussed mentally._ _

__“I need to get back to my universe, so I need all the help I can get.” The other Ed continued, holding his hands out in a pleading matter._ _

__“Like what kind of help?” Al asked, curiosity sprinkled in his child voice._ _

__“I need someone that can keep a secret. Do you have any teammates that could keep one?”_ _

__“Yeah, Brother has a team back in the military. They’re trustworthy.”_ _

__The Ed nodded. “That’s good, as long as they can keep their lips sealed; I can’t have your world’s military finding out about this. It could cause a lot of trouble for the both of us.”_ _

__Edward crossed his arms, trying to sway himself back into his usual self. “Yeah, Jumping through space with a Philosopher’s stone could be dangerous information in the wrong hands.” He replies, serious once more._ _

__“Exactly.”_ _

__“So,you need the Colonel and his men to help you, right?” Al asked, making sure this is what his brother’s doppelganger wanted._ _

__His one eye widen slightly. “C-colonel?” He stuttered._ _

__Al’s nodded, oblivious to his stuttering.“Colonel Mustang. He’s brother’s commanding officer.”_ _

__“O-oh… That’s nice.”_ _

__The eldest tilted his head at his look alike’s reaction. _“What the hell?”_ He thought. Watching him roll his shoulders and clearing his throat._ _

__“That’s good to know. Anyway, we need a safe place to meet, somewhere that wouldn’t draw too much attention. Do you know a place?” The rebel continued on, watching the two brothers rack their brains for somewhere to meet._ _

__“Well, there is a lot of abandoned warehouses in the west; that should be hidden enough.” Ed said, still eyeing his doppelganger skeptically._ _

__“Good, that should work. Now I just need you to call your teammates, or subordinates… wait, what rank are you anyway?”_ _

__“Me? I’m a Major.”_ _

__He nodded, stroking his chin with his fingers.“Hmm, Okay. Same rank, that’s cool…”_ _

__Ed just raised an eyebrow as Alphonse spoke again. “Maybe we should call the Colonel, but is he even still at his office? It’s almost midnight.” The youngest asked._ _

__Gold eyes widen, trailing over to the clock. “Is it?” Ed said, reading it. “Oh, it is.” He didn’t realize how late it was. “Wait, we’ve been talking since sundown?”_ _

__“Should we try calling his house then?” The suit of armor leaning to the teen’s view. His brother shook his head._ _

__“Nah, That bastard has a lot of paperwork to do, he’s probably still there.”_ _

__“Brother.” Al scolded, watching Edward wander over towards the phone on the living room’s desk. Him and the other Ed crowded behind him as he dialed the office’s number, he brought the phone up to his ear waiting._ _

__A lady’s voice was heard,cueing the alchemist to tell the secretary his confirmation code before being transferred over. The phone rang and rang, till he heard a voice, “Colonel Roy Mustang’s office, Colonel Mustang speaking.”_ _

__“Did he answer?” His doppelganger asked, whispering._ _

__“Yeah, Ed. Did he?” Al asked, too. Edward made a gesture to tell them to be quiet as they pestered him with questions._ _

__“Who is this? I’m going to hang up if I don’t get an answer.” Roy said on the other line._ _

__Edward told them to shush and waved them off, his look alike saying ‘Okay! Okay!’. “Um, Colonel, It’s Fullmetal.” Ed replies into the phone. He felt the two of them lean towards him to hear. Annoyed, he turned around and gave them a glare. Both of them shrugged, his doppelganger giving him an apologetic look (Al even seemed to be giving one, too)._ _

__“Fullmetal? It’s Midnight, why are you calling?”_ _

__“Well? The other Ed whispered._ _

__“Hold on…” The teen hissed at himself, before talking back into the phone. “Oh, yeah, um… look, I know you probably sent everyone home already, but I need your… help. You and the team’s.” Ed said. He couldn’t believe what he was saying right now. He was asking for _help_ Let alone, He’s asking for the (bastard) colonel’s. _“He’s probably never going to let this down.”__ _

__“Me and the team’s? What for? You didn’t get yourself into trouble, right? Cause I haven’t even assigned you a mission yet.” Roy asked._ _

__“Um, No, Not exactly….” (His doppelganger made a motion with his hands,saying “Come on, pick it up…” ) The eldest Elric glared at himself again, before continuing his conversation with the flame alchemist. “I just really need you and the team’s help.” Suddenly, the other golden haired team pinched Edward. “Ow! What?” he asked in a harsh whisper._ _

__“Tell him about the warehouse, and tell him to bring Hughes.” The rebel-like boy replies, sounding like an order._ _

__“Hughes? How’d you know about Hughes? And why do you need him?” Ed asked, confused. Moving the phone away from him slightly, noticing the other tensing at his question.Before he could yell some more, Roy’s voice seeped in, startling them all._ _

__“Fullmetal, why are you talking to yourself? And what about Hughes and a warehouse?” Roy asked._ _

__His doppelganger cursed,slapping a hand over his mouth while sucking in a breath. Edward bit his lip, looking at his armored brother. “Um,”  
Alphonse could only shrugged. _“Come on, Ed. Think of something, think of something…”_ “Nevermind that! Look, do you know that abandoned warehouse near the park? The old storage facility in the west?” Ed asked._ _

__“Yeah…” Roy replies, sounding certain. Edward nearly jumped with joy at that single word._ _

__“Okay! I need you and the team to meet me and Al there. Oh, and bring Hughes, too!”_ _

__“Fullmetal, what’s going on?”_ _

__“No time to explain! I just need you guys to be there! Okay?.... Okay! Goodbye!”_ _

__“What? Fullme-”_ _

__He didn’t even let Roy finish, he just hung up quickly, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Afterwards, His amber eyes looked straight up at the other one, glaring once more with annoyance. “God! You’re so impatient!” He yelled, fuming with rage._ _

__“Sorry, but we need to get going.The faster I get help, the faster I can get home and save my friend. So, let’s go.” The other said, turning on his heels and heading towards the front door._ _

__“Okay, I get that! I know you want to get home,But you can’t rush these things! And why do you need Hughes? How do know about him?”_ _

__His hand froze on the door knob, his breath getting caught in his throat. ( _“Shit, I didn’t think this through…. Should I tell them?”_ ) He swallowed hard, not looking back. “I just saw you two with him earlier. I appeared in an alleyway near his house and saw you two with him. I thought he could be useful in my situation.” He replies with a semi-white lie._ _

__“That’s all?” Ed asked, eyebrow raised._ _

__“Yes. That is all. Now,let’s go.”_ _

__He opens the door, heading out into the hallway towards the stairs. The two Elric brothers looked at each other with uncertainty. “There’s something he’s not telling us.” Alphonse replies, in a low voice._ _

__“Agreed. I think he’s leaving something important out of his story. He claims he’s using the stone in order to go back in time to save his friend, but that’s not the whole story.” Ed adds, thinking._ _

__“Well, what do you think it is then?”_ _

__Ed thought for a moment. “I think… I think he might know Hughes.”_ _

__***Break*** _ _

__Roy slammed his car door shut, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets to keep warm. The cold air had started to pick up making the Colonel shiver at the slightest bit of wind on his exposed skin. “Roy!” Hughes called out, waving him over._ _

__Roy came strolling over, peeking over his friend’s shoulder to see his subordinates trailing behind. All were dressed in casual wear. “You all  
made it.” He said._ _

__“Ugh, why’s it so early?” Fuery complained, eyes still seemed to be closed._ _

__“Yeah, what the hell, boss?” Breda asked, his skin seemed flush and his stance was wobbly._ _

__Havoc scrunched his nose, almost gagging at the smell. “Dude, you smell like alcohol.” He said, holding his nose._ _

__“Well,*sorry… I had a date last night and it didn’t go so well, okay?” Breda bit back, clearly annoyed at everything and everyone. Roy mentally sighed, he could tell his men were all dead tired, none of them fully awake. The only ones that seemed to be somewhat alerted was Hawkeye and Hughes (But even they were on the fence)._ _

__“So what’s going on with the Chief and his brother?” Falman asked, yawning._ _

__“Not sure, he called me to tell me he needed our help. He told me to also meet him and Alphonse here and that was it. If I’m being honest, he sounded hesitant to even talk to me.” Roy replies, tuning into the conversation with his youngest subordinate earlier on._ _

__“Well, that’s weird.”Havoc said, muffled.His hand still over his nose. Breda just sighed at his friend’s actions._ _

__“Seems out of character for him.” Riza added, Roy nodding in response._ _

__“And he wanted us to meet him here? Like inside?” Hughes asked, glancing over at the,long forgotten,building._ _

__“I’m assuming, yes.” Roy replies. They all manage to take it in, the warehouse was tall and wide,the glass windows were covered in dirt and dust, some even busted out.To be honest, it wasn’t an ideal place to meet. Like Roy had meetings in 1-star bars better than this place. Something seemed wrong… “This is almost too remote.”_ _

__“I have to agree, but there must be a reason we’re all here, so let’s check it out. High ranks goes first.” Hughes said, gesturing his friend to go in first. He smirked and Roy gave him a weary glare._ _

__Roy chuckled. “Alrighty, then.” He walks ahead, Hughes following afterwards._ _

__***Break*** _ _

__The once locked door creaked open **(1)** , echoing off the walls. Cotton webs and dust bunnies flew all around, getting caught in people’s throats. Roy coughed harshly, looking around in the dark place. “Fullmetal?” He calls out, echoing. No response._ _

__“Edward? Alphonse?” Hughes called out. Still no response._ _

__The soldiers eyed one another with worriedness, all thinking the same thing.They quietly drew their weapons that were hidden under their clothing, pulling out guns and Roy’s ignition gloves.“We stay close,move in slowly.We don’t know the whole story here,but I have a feeling we’re not alone.Understood?” Roy commanded, looking at each and every one of them. They all nodded, and he waved them to follow. The seven of them followed the Colonel as they guided themselves throughout the warehouse, quietly calling out to the young prodigy alchemist and his little-big brother._ _

__They started to see a clearing at the end of the hall. “Ed?” Riza said, quietly._ _

__“GUYS! OVER HERE!” Ed’s voice broke out, sounding like he was in a panic. It sent the adults into high alert, picking up the pace. “GUYS! COME QUICK! HURRY!!!”_ _

__“Fullmetal?!” Roy yells, bursting past some crates and into the opening. In the middle of the room on the floor, was Edward Elric tied up. “Fullmetal!”_ _

__The seven soldiers sprinted forward, running to go free their youngest team member, however,what surprised them next was when Alphonse stepped in front of them. He suddenly clapped his hands before they could slow down and question the youngest, he touched the ground and light engulfed the adults’ feet. The ground shifted and molded, latching onto their wrists tightly; handcuffs with chains brought each one of them to their knees. As their guns clanked to the floor and slid away, they all stared in shock…_ _

__After a few seconds of processing, Roy’s dumbfounded look turn into pure rage. “WHAT THE HELL, FULLMETAL?!?!?!” He screamed, seeing Edward now standing next to his brother._ _

__Ed looked at them with an apologetic look. “Sorry, But we didn’t think you would listen. We thought this would be for the best.” He said._ _

__“Why?” Havoc asked, confused. A slight look of betrayal on his face._ _

__“Boys, what’s going on?” Riza asked,eyes held confusion and a sense of worry for them and everyone else._ _

__The blonde teen held his hands up in defense. “Listen, this isn’t how I wanted this to go, but we were afraid you wouldn’t listen… or understand.” He replies,eyes trailing off._ _

__“Understand what?” Roy asked,still upset._ _

__“Understand _me_ .” A familiar voice spoke. Edward shifted to the side, letting the person come into view. The adults’ eyes nearly bulged out of their heads as they gasp. The person was Edward, not *their Edward, but another one. He stood there frowning, his one eye eyeing them with pure sadness. The amber eye mixed with green captivated anyone who looked into it, but the illusion was burned off by the broken spirit in it._ _

__“Ed?” Riza croaked,surprised._ _

__“T-two Ed’s…” Breda adds,mouth opened wide._ _

__“What… what the hell’s going on?” Roy asked,somewhat calmly._ _

__Their Edward stepped in front of the other one, getting his team’s attention. “Listen, before we start telling you what’s going on, I have to confirm with you that this is _not_ Envy. Trust me, Both me and Al can vouch for that.” He replies._ _

__“Yeah, trust me and brother, this guy’s really Edward.” Al said,stepping next to him._ _

__“But, how?” Fuery asked._ _

__“Yeah, how’s there two of you?” Breda asked,raising an eyebrow._ _

__“Do you have a twin that we don’t know about?” Havoc asked,skeptical._ _

__“What? No! And if I did his name wouldn’t be Edward, too!” Ed yelled, dumbfounded by the older man’s question._ _

__“Don’t you mean, Edward _two?_ ” He smirks and everyone gives him a glare. “Sorry, bad timing.” Havoc apologizes._ _

__“Okay, so this isn’t Envy, and he isn’t your twin. Who is he then?” Roy asked, finally processing everything._ _

__The other Edward stepped in before the brothers could speak. “Allow me to explain, it’s simple, The multiverses.” He replies._ _

__“Multiverses?” Hughes said,tilting his head._ _

__“The what now?” Breda asked,completely lost again._ _

__“Multiverses are like alternate timelines, right?” Fuery answered, intrigued. The Ed nodded._ _

__“Yes, basically. For example, there could be a world where there is no military, or where we’re all the opposite sex, or even a simple event in history. In my universe, My brother, who’s name is also Alphonse, and I committed the taboo, lost something, and joined the Military. Simple as that.” Ed replies._ _

__“Okay, you said your story’s the same as _our_ Elric brothers, so why are you here?” Falman asked. Everyone was now listen intently. _ _

__“Because I need your help. I need to get home to my universe.” The Edward sighed. “In my world, it’s apocalyptic, our government has been overrunned, our leader’s now a dictator and there’s people constantly being slaughtered. Upon those people are a group of rebels, like myself.One day, I came across a way to travel back in time with a Philosopher’s Stone.”_ _

__Everyone gasped, Roy’s eyes widen with shock. “A Philosopher's Stone? How?” He asked._ _

__“And you can travel through time with it?” Hughes asked, confused._ _

__“But why? And how’d you end up here?” Havoc asked, puzzled at this new information._ _

__“Cause, a couple years ago, something happened that changed the course of time and history itself. I was on a mission with a few others, a soldier I knew got killed and I ended up getting blamed for it. From there, it all collapsed. I wanted to use the stone to go back and save him from being killed to fix the timeline; but when I went to use it, I ended up here instead. I guess, I might of miscalculated a few things...” The Ed trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck in deep thought._ _

__“Whoa. That’s crazy.” Was all Fuery could say, staring with big,surprised eyes._ _

__“Hang on a second…” They all faced the Lieutenant, her face showed she was in deep thought. “I get certain things can change events in time, but how can _one_ man change the entire history of your world?” Riza asked looking at the Ed._ _

__“I’m with Lieutenant Hawkeye on this one, what man could change the event in time so drastically that your world’s now apocalyptic? Was he a high ranking soldier or something?” Roy adds, looking at him with stone cold eyes. All of Mustang’s unit seemed to turn and face the Rebel. His face suddenly lost all his color, tensing up and trembling slightly._ _

__“Well, I-” He began._ _

__“Yeah. You wanted us to call the Colonel and his men so they could help you, and you seemed tense when we first mention them.”Alphonse butted in,coming up from behind his brother’s doppelganger._ _

__“You seemed to know them, and Hughes. You claimed you saw Hughes with Al and I this morning, but I don’t think that’s the whole story either. So tell us, _Edward Elric_ , what’s the real reason you’re here? What’s the real reason for changing an event in your world’s history?” The real Edward chimed, his tone demanding._ _

__

__Everyone seemed to glare at the doppelganger, an intense feeling of distrust in the air. After a long, uneasy pause, the look alike sighed. His face filled with sadness and his eye held pain as he was conjuring up a way to tell them all. He took in a deep breath, followed by a shaky exhale before speaking.  
“Fine. I was hoping I could avoid this, but I guess not. Like I said before, Alphonse and I committed the taboo and joined the Military; It was simple, go on missions, give reports, search for leads on getting our bodies back, etc… But then, I got assigned a mission. It was me,-” He points to Riza. “-My world’s Riza Hawkeye,-” Then to Havoc. “-Jean Havoc,-” Then at Hughes. “-and Maes Hughes. It was supposed to be so simple, we just needed to stop a drug bust, that was it; But it didn’t go the way we planned ...” He started._ _

__He paused to take a breather, his one eye now looking at the floor in discomfort (Everyone in the room realized this wasn’t going to be a happy tale). He gulped down the bile in his throat for a second time that day, before continuing. “We were ambushed when we arrived, fought a little and eventually we all got separated. I ended up with Hughes, we were hiding for a long time, trying to find Havoc and Hawkeye, but the whole building was like a war zone; bullets rained down upon us,blood spilled everywhere,bodies dropped and dropped like an endless loop….”_ _

__His lip quivered, his heart beating in his ears, as his audience became paler. “I spotted the others, they were trying to escape, so me and Hughes were going to follow, but…” Edward choked up on his unshed tears as he could still hear _the_ fatal shot. “I didn’t see him coming, neither did Hughes, and enemy came up from behind and shot Major Maes Hughes.”_ _

__Everyone in the room froze, eyes widening. This world’s Edward seemed to twitch in fear along with the shaking of Al’s armor. Roy seems to be left speechless as his heart sank to his stomach as his best friend next to him shook to the core. The other Ed couldn’t bare to look up, as he tried to hold in his tears, to try to stay strong till the end of his tale. ( _“Come on, Elric! You need these people’s help, you need their trust, you have to finish… even if he hurts so fucking much, you need to finish it.” He scolded himself_.)  
He took another shaky breath before continuing on, “I don’t know how, but I got him outside, but it was too late, Major Hughes was dead. The mission, in many ways, was a failure. The shooting in the drug filled warehouse pretty much killed all the dealers, including the one that fired the shot, No one in the military stopped to believe me.” He finally looks up at everyone, looks of pain in their eyes. Unfortunately, he wasn’t done yet. “A lot of higher ups believed I tipped off the dealers, whether it was on purpose or by accident, I should be the one to blame since I was the lead in that mission._ _

__“I do feel guilty, because in reality one of my men were killed in a mission I was leading, But I still wanted _someone_ to believe I wasn’t the one who killed him. Of course, I got the cold shoulder everywhere I looked… I was completely shut out by everyone, including some of my teammates.” _ _

__Everyone looked at him with pity. The feeling of having that guilt on him felt heavy on their shoulders. “One officer, who was really close to Hughes, took it the hardest. His death is what sets my world into chaos. He was mad, angry, he wasn’t seeing straight. And as my punishment-”  
He reached up to touch his concealed eye. “-He took my left eye out.” Riza Gasps. “From that day,the officer’s rage helped him move in the ranks, eventually overthrowing the Fuhrer and becoming the most feared man in the whole country. The Fuhrer, or what the rebel’s like to call him, The ‘Blood King’, slaughtered anybody who was against him and is slowly corrupting the Military as we speak.” Ed finally finished. _ _

__Everyone seemed to purely frightened at this point. “The Blood King?” Havoc choked, petrified. He was pale to the bone just like everyone else._ _

__“That’s… That’s intense..” This world’s Edward said, still shaking._ _

__“N-no way. So my doppelganger’s death cause all that? How’s that possible?” Hughes choked. A sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, imagining that his death could be bring a whole country to its knees. It all seemed like a terrible, terrible dream that kept pulling him deeper as he dreamt._ _

__The Rebel nodded at Hughes response. “Yes. I’m sorry, this is probably not what you wanted to hear.” He replies._ _

__“What happen after that?” Al asked, seeing he was the only person that was curious enough to ask(or had the guts to).The suit of armor stepped next to him, his one gold-green eye soften a bit when Al spoke._ _

__“It’s been a few years since then, along the way I figure out how to time travel using Alchemy. I manage to salvage a Philosopher’s Stone to use its energy to get me a certain point in time, to get me back to the day the Major was killed so I could save him, the country, and the Blood King in one go. I just miscalculate a few things.”_ _

__Roy tilted his head slightly, his forehead scrunched up in thought. “Wait.” Now all eyes were on him. “You want to go back to save him and prevent the downfall of your country; But why are you trying to save this-so-called ‘Blood King? To me, he sounds like he’s very corrupted. So why help him?” Roy asked._ _

__Th Ed tensed up again, his eye holding a mixture of emotions, one belonging to pity and guilt, yet, there was a small spark of happiness that caught them off guard. “Cause he’s not a bad guy, never was. Out of all the people in the military, besides Hughes, he was the less tainted soldier there. I… actually admired him a lot, but after his friend’s death, he went down the path of vengeance and rage. His bright long tunnel got dimmer and narrower, he wasn’t listening to anyone as he started doing what he thought was right.” Ed held his flesh hand to his chest. “I have to help him, that’s why I need to do this.”_ _

__The grip on his chest tightened some more. Riza side glanced at Roy who seemed to have the same thought. Her brown eyes met the boy’s one as she spoke in her rare, soft voice. “Ed. He sounds like he’s long gone.Are you sure you want to save him?” She asked, concern for the boy that look so much like her Ed._ _

__“Yeah,no offense he sounds like a monster.” Falman replies,bitterly._ _

__He shook his head. “No.No, he’s not! You just don’t understand! I have to help him! He’s my commanding officer, my mentor, my friend… I can’t just sit by as that rage eats up every bit of good inside! I’m going to help him! Whether you don’t like him or not, I am going to need your help to get home,to save Hughes,my country,and _him_ . And **no one** is going to stop me!” The Ed yelled, panting at the end heavily. _ _

__Shaking as he held back tears again, feeling the surprised stares once again. A long silence filled the dusty air, only Ed’s pants could be heard as his words echoed in the people’s minds until…  
The boy gaps, hearing a faint sound of footsteps behind him, so he straightens up, pushing his tears aside as he spoke in a serious tone. “And no one is going to stop me. Isn’t that right?...” He repeated, slowly looking back._ _

___“...Fuhrer Roy Mustang.”_ _ _

__And there was a pregnant pause. No sound was heard. Not even a single breath.  
Did they hear that right? Those words? The name? Everyone’s breathing stopped in their lungs, their heart beats fading as they waited._ _

__The footsteps returned, but in a slower, taunting pace.The Gold eye was staring in the darkness of the hallway behind him, seeing the shadows shift and form until he appeared. Ed’s friend. His mentor. His commanding officer. The Fuhrer. The Doppelganger.Roy Mustang._ _

__Everyone gazed upon him, looking at the Roy they knew, but yet so different in many ways. He had on the Military uniform, the stars and stripes showing off his shoulders told them he was King of his country. His jet-black hair slicked back in a formal matter, a sword was seen on his hip in a sheath, his hands tucked behind him as he observe them with his eyes. His left was a cloudy gray color, and underneath his eyelid was a giant gash, a scar running down and cutting off where his cheek met his jawline. His cold hard stare sent chills at their spines, making it hard to cough up any words._ _

__The Ed was the first to speak. “I see you followed me.” He said, calmly._ _

__The Roy smirked. “Well, I happened to walk in on your little ‘experiment’ and decided to follow. Glad I did, I see that you’re talking to yourself… and me.” He said, cold. His eyes boring into everyone in the room. This world’s Roy couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was him. He was the-so-called ‘Blood King. He wanted to look away, but for some reason couldn’t._ _

__“I’m not going with you.” Ed continued._ _

__“Oh, I don’t think you have a choice, _Edward Elric_ ; Ex major of the military, Rebel leader, Public enemy number 1. You don’t get a choice, and you don’t get to live.” Roy replies. _ _

__Ed shook his head. “No. I am trying to help you, Mustang. If I go back,no, I will go back, I can save him! I can save Hughes!”_ _

__“LIES!” The soldiers flinched at his tone. “Lies. Hughes is dead, you killed him and he’s not coming back!”_ _

__“You don’t know that, just let me try.”_ _

__Roy sighed, shaking his head at those words. “You arrogant, arrogant little boy… You still don’t get it, do you? People can’t come back from the dead. You should already know that with your mother,what makes you think this time’s going to be different?” He asked, with a dark shadow cast on his face._ _

__Ed nearly choked on his words, fighting back tears for the thousandth time today **(2)** . “Cause It’ll work if you’d let me try.” He replies._ _

__Roy just sighed again. “No, No it won’t. Stay still so I can end this.” The Fuhrer reached to his left, drawing the sword. The blade glistened in the moonlight._ _

__“I can’t let you do this.” Ed said, fixing his stance._ _

__“Why not? You can’t out run me forever.”_ _

__“And why not? Let me guess, if I move Captain Hawkeye will put a bullet in my head?” Riza stiffened hearing her name._ _

__The Blood King gazed at the so-called “Traitor”,fixing his stance as well. “Who knows. She may or may not.” he replies._ _

__“Oh please, everyone knows she’s always a step behind you.” Ed said, mockingly._ _

__Another sigh. “Last chance, Elric.You can have the easy way out if you do.”_ _

__“Not a chance, Mustang.”_ _

__“Then so be it.”_ _

__Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he was there,his sword collided with Ed’s automail arm. A gush of high powered wind shot out on the contact, everyone else was now stunned by this sudden turn of events. The two doppelgangers gawked at each other intensely, before breaking off and going at it again.The sound of metal and steel repeated over and over again, the figures zooming all around the warehouse at fast speeds. Blue alchemy light could be seen at Ed’s feet, almost like it was giving him a boost of speed.  
Roy swung his sword, missing the blonde by an inch; Ed pulled out a knife from behind before throwing it quickly. It flew passed Roy’s head as Ed took this as an advantage,running up and readying his leg for a kick. Those cold eyes flashed with rage, catching on to the rebel’s plan, with that he pulled out his hand that was tucked away and…_ _

__**A snap**. _ _

__The golden haired boy jumped back in the nick of time before a large wave of fire shot out, the heat scorching the air.  
The soldiers off to the side watched, bewildered by many things. Like, how the two of them could move so quickly, it was inhuman like; How strong this Ed’s automail was; and how this Roy’s fire seemed scarier than any other. It felt so different, it seemed so brighter but had more of a dark and dim aura. Or how this fire was just so cold... there was warmth, just like any fire, but the presence of _this_ fire seemed to be filled with cold hearted rage. It made this Colonel’s skin crawl.  
His fire _never_ had this presence. Not even during the Ishvalan War. It never had this… this negativity. It was bathed in it. Tainted in grimness. It was like-_ _

__“-Death itself.” Roy mumbled. No one could hear him over the fight, and no one say him twitch under this presence.  
Ed saw Roy’s silhouette in the smoke, quickly clapping and sent a way of concrete, followed by another that trapped Roy in a dome. Banging and screaming could be heard, as Ed went to catch his breath. His eye widen as a gun shot rang, a bullet flying pass and grazing his cheek. The sound rolled the room back into silence, now looking over to the entrance, A figure was there with a pistol in hand. She stood tall, her blonde hair in a ponytail, a long bang covering her left eye as her brown ones pierced into her ‘prey._ _

__Riza froze at the sight, so did the Rebel leader.“C-captain Hawkeye.” Ed stuttered, watching her eyes narrow. “Hawkeye. You know i’m trying to-”_ _

__She fired again, Ed dodging it. She shot bullet after bullet as he ran towards her, when he got close enough he threw and missed the kick, grabbing the barrel of the gun. She shot her last bullet into the metal palm of his hand. The woman cursed, trying to pry the gun away from his grip. “Captain, you know I’m trying to help him!” He cried out.  
She growled at him, pulling out a push knife to slice his other cheek.Her gun dropped and lunged at him, his only response was to dodge. He didn’t want to hurt her, he especially didn’t want to fight her either. _ _

__“Captain,Please!” He begged, stopping the knife from going into his head. He held her wrist in a tight grip, trying to see if she could get the message, but that all back fired when Riza brought her knee up to his chin. Ed bit his tongue while being tackled to the ground, as she straddled him with her hands around his neck. He sucked in a breath, clawing at her hands. “H-Hawk… eye… p-please…” he choked, his face turning blue. Riza paid no heed, she just gave him a wicked grin as she squeezed tighter._ _

__The others stood by watching in horror as Ed kicked his legs in an attempt to get her off, but to no prevail. This world’s Riza paled, opening her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the right words for this particular moment. The Elric brothers stared as well, wanting to speak too, until the eldest realized he wasn’t actually tied up. With a twinge of guilt, he got an idea.Near by was a piece of wood he noticed when he came to the warehouse earlier, it was the only way…_ _

__He picked it up and ran at the doppelgangers. “Sorry, Hawkeye!” Ed yelled, swinging and hitting the woman in the arm, hard. She screamed, getting thrown off as he went to help himself. The rebel was gasping for air noticing someone’s hand in his line of vision. “Come on!”_ _

__Meanwhile, Al used his alchemy to get the Amestrain soldiers out. “Let’s go! Let’s go!” he said, waving them to go. The Captain could be seen getting up, while the dome started to crack with black smoke seeping out. The Ed could only look back, biting his lip as he turned and ran to catch up to his newly found allies._ _

__***Break*** _ _

__The dome cracked and broke, fire shooting out missing the blonde.The Fuhrer stepped out, a sadistic look on his face. “Status?” He said,bitterly._ _

__“They’re gone.I almost had Ed, but his doppelganger got me.” Riza replies._ _

__“Damn it. Of course he would ask for help, of course it’s his doppelganger.”_ _

__“Sir, I notice yours was there as well; Along with mine, Havoc, Breda, Fuery, and Falman’s. I also noticed one that looked like Alphonse Elric and Maes Hughes,too.”_ _

__Roy’s eyes darken, his hands tightening into a fist. **“Hughes”** He growled. He looked at Riza who visibly shivered at his gaze. “Are the others with you?”_ _

__“Y-yes, sir. I had them station nearby incase something happened.” She replies, voice breaking a bite._ _

__“Good. Go get them. We’ve got and alchemist to catch.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I love horror movies/Tv shows and they always have some kind of creaking door.  
> 2) This Ed's very emotional, the apocalypse and Hughes' death have taken a toll on him (Along with Roy becoming evil). There's also other reasons why he's emotional but those are spoiler! So, I can't reveal anything just yet. I will be revealing why the doppelganger's ranks are all different,too! 
> 
> Next up, It's Team Mustang vs The other world's Doppelgangers! Stay tune!


	4. Go ahead and Cry little boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He sobbed and cried louder, harder as he screams for the people he loves…  
> That are now gone forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back! Sorry about the delay, some stuff came up and made me busy. But Never fear! A new chapter is here!
> 
> (Side Note: The chapter's title is based off a song called: "Daddy Issues" -by The Neighbourhood. It's a really good song,I suggest listening to it afterwards.)
> 
> Anyway, Ed's doppelganger, Team Mustang, Hughes, and the Elric Brothers are on the run from Evil Mustang and Hawkeye. Will they escape with their lives?

The closest place to hide was Lieutenant Hawkeye’s place.  
They barged into her home, all out of breath and in a panic that even Black Hayate realized their distress. “Grab anything that we need! We can’t stay here!” Roy ordered, as the ten of the scattered out and ravage her household. Hughes asked to use the phone quickly to call his wife, which Riza granted his wish. 

“Where are we even going to go boss?!” Havoc asked, panicking. He was trying to stuff medical supplies in a bag he found lying around. 

“There’s a safe house I know nearby, we’ll head there.” Roy replies.

Everyone was rushing,rushing real fast, they didn’t know how much time they have until their doppelgangers find them; and they didn’t want that to be anytime soon.

“Yes,Gracia… Yes, don’t worry, i’ll be fine….. Yes,I love you too. Tell Elicia I love her as well in the morning…. Goodnight.” Hughes hung up the phone, a guilty and worried expression plastered his face. The rebel Edward stared from afar, frowning at the sight of his ‘friend’. Unconsciously, he touched his throbbing neck, thinking. 

Next to him, Riza glanced at the boy looking guilty as well, hugging her dog close to her chest for comfort. “Um… Ed-” she started, but Mustang’s voice broke through.

“Alright, does everyone have something?” He asked. Everyone looked at eachother, seeing duffle bags filled up was something useful, and then nodded toward their superior. “Good.Let’s move out! We don’t know how much time we have, so let’s make this quick as possible!” 

And then they were off, off into the cold autumn night. It was already way past midnight, as they paid no heed to the winds as they ran along the streets where no one was out and about. Central was a ghost town for the soldiers who were just hoping nobody awaits them, but…

They can never catch a break can they?

Fire spewed out into the street, blocking their path, stopping them short. The hot flames brushed close, almost feeling that their skin would melt with the almost blue flames. “Shit.” Breda said.

Havoc looked around and gestured them to follow with his gun. “This way!” He yelled, running down an alleyway. He lead the way, only to spot something stifling…  
Piercing ocean blue eyes attacked his own,causing the the 2nd lieutenant to slow down, paying no attention to the gun pointed at his heart.

“Jean!” Rebel Ed yelled, pushing him out of the way, the bullet missing them. He then pushed off a wall and launched himself at the other blonde. His foot pushed down on the foot of the barrel, and then tackled the adult. “Go! Get going!” He waved them to go by unharm.  
But as they made their way father into the alleyway, more obstacles, no, more _people_ appeared out of nowhere. More look alikes appeared, all slightly altered, but it was no mistake it was Breda, Falman,Fuery; along with Hawkeye and Havoc. They were officially cornered, surrounded completely. 

“Fuck!” Roy hissed under his breath, every one of his men turned back to back with each other, facing their own doppelgangers. The other Jean Havoc kicked and threw the Ed on the ground, guns aimed at the unit as Fuhrer Mustang appeared next to Captain Hawkeye.

He smiled, evilly. “You just had to drag this world’s people into this, you arrogant brat.” he said, seeing his Ed stand up, holding his bruised side.

“Sir, what’s our orders?” The Havoc asked. 

“Well,Kill the traitor, the others…” He stroked his chin with a grin. “You can do the same. It’ll be good target practice.” 

_“This guy’s crazy. Hell, i’m crazy.” Roy thought, baring his teeth. His men looked around, realizing they were trapped._

“On my marks…” the Fuhrer said, hearing their guns cock.

The rebel leader stared at him, horrified. “N-No.” He breathed. A familiar feeling creeping in.

“Get set..” Their fingers on the triggers. “Fi-” 

A huge shadow appeared over him, he didn’t even have time to look up but he did have time to move out of the way as the shadow came crashing down. The impact sent out a shock wave, knocking the Fuhrer and few others over. “That was a lot harder than expected, but I’m glad I showed up when I did…” His eyes twinkled, muscles showing in the moonlight.

“Major Armstrong!” Hughes yells in surprise.

“In the flesh!” The alchemist chimed. He then stood tall and watched his opponents get up while giving him a deadly glare. Armstrong was immediately taken aback by their appearances. “What the hell?” 

“Major! Don’t let them fool you! That’s not us!” Falman yelled. The evil Roy had a dark shadow across his face as he pulled his sword out again,the others pointing their guns.

“Major, we need to get out of here.” Al said, clearly worried for everyone’s safety. 

“I know, Alphonse. We will.” Armstrong reassured, putting up his fists. The Roy eyes darkened as he took off running after the state alchemist. “I may not know what’s going on, but I do know what must be done.”

Roy came closer and closer,the blade in his hands begging for blood. “WITNESS! THE TECHNIQUE THAT’S BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS!!!” 

Fists collided into the ground, creating an explosion with a bright light.

***Break***

He crouched, The Fuhrer managed to slow down before hitting the aftermath of the impact. He had to wait for the dust to settle and the results were pure disappointment. There was a large,gaping hole in the ground, and from what he could see was the sewers below, covered by the debris. To disappoint himself even more, the traitor and his accomplices were gone. He growled in frustration.

“Sir?” Hawkeye asked.

“They’re gone. Spread out and find them. Now!” He replies, fuming with rage.

“Yes, sir!” his men said with a bow, before leaving. 

His eyes never left that damn hole. There was definitely rage eating out of his chest now. “ _Elric_. Mark my words.. I’m going to find you and you’re going to wish you stayed still,Because now, you just earn yourself something far worse than death.”

***Break***

They coughed harshly, the soldiers crawling out of the debris that nearly crushed them. “What the hell, Major?” Breda coughed, standing up.

“Sorry, I didn’t have much time to think. Is everyone alright?” Armstrong asked, helping Fuery up. 

Everyone either nodded or mumbled ‘yeah’, while crawling out. Alphonse lifted a heavy piece off Hawkeye who was holding Hayate protectively. “You okay, Lieutenant?” he asked, holding out his armored hand. 

She smiled lightly, reaching up and taking it. “Yes. Thank you, Alphonse.” She said, while being pulled up. She readjusted her grip on her dog.

“Major, I know you probably have a lot of questions right now, but we really need a place to hide out; Got any ideas?” Roy asked, trying to hide the nervousness in his tone. Once again, they were on a time crunch. Their doppelgangers could be heading here right now and they all were too exhausted and hurt to try to put up a fight. 

Armstrong thought long and hard before summoning up an ideal place to hide, and with that thought he just replied, “Yeah, I’ve got a place.”

***Break***

The man hole cover opened, and with that, eleven people and a dog crawled out. The silent gasps showed they were surprised where they ended up, The courtyard of the Armstrong Family mansion. 

“Let’s get inside, quickly.” The soon to be heir of the house said. He starts walking, but no one follows. Looking back and taking the smallest glance at their faces, he knew what they were thinking. “Don’t worry, my family’s out of town, they’ll be safe.” He starts walking again. “Although, there’s still a few maids here, but I can always send them away if necessary.”

The others followed dreadfully, but if Armstrong said it was okay, then they guess it would be. Even though, the perturbed feeling still snaked at their chests, making it almost like they had phantom pains of their own. They entered through the big doors, stunned by the inside’s beauty.

“Wow, I’ve never been in a mansion before. Have you,brother?” Al whispered, not taking his eyes off the sight of the huge marble walls and stairwell.

“No, me either.” Ed whispered back in awe. 

But they’re stargazing was cut off by a tiny whimper from the dog. “Black Hayate? What’s wrong, boy?” Riza asked with urgency. A slight gasp escaped pasted her lips, she saw that her pet’s fur on one of his front legs were torn and bleeding badly. The shinu buried his head into his mom’s chest, whimpering. A flash of terror was written on the sniper’s face.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go find some medical supplies. Why don’t you guys have a seat in here.” Armstrong suggested, pointing to the room on the left. 

“Thank you, Major.” Riza said, smiling. 

He nodded and left, and Riza went into the room, being the first one to enter and sit down. Her sherry eyes never leaving the shinu’s small form. Everyone else trailed behind. The room looked like was a small library, with couches, a table, and bookshelves. 

“This looks comfy…” Hughes said.

There was a pregnant pause before everyone collapsed onto their knees. Their bodies and minds were like jello now, all tired and exhausted, running on nothing but adrenaline. 

“Doppelganger… we all had doppelgangers, and they ALL TRIED TO FUCKING KILL US!!!” Fuery suddenly exploded. Everyone looked at the Sergeant with widened eyes, surprised to see that Fuery even had those words in his vocabulary. He was always so soft spoken…

“Kain, why don’t you calm down a bit?” Falman said, calmingly reaching for him. But Fuery’s head snapped towards the Warrant Officer.

“CALM DOWN?! ARE YOU INSANE?! WE ALMOST DIED BECAUSE OF OUR LOOK ALIKES! AND YOU’RE ASKING ME TO CALM DOWN?!” His face was red with anger, steam seemed to radiate off his body the more he spoke harshly.

“I didn’t think Fuery had that in him.” Ed said, quietly. His golden eyes held disbelief.

“Yeah. I don’t think my Fuery has it in him either.” the other Ed said.

Now Roy’s face turned to rage too, as he stood up and marched over to the rebel. _“Ed.” He hissed._

“Yes?” The two Ed’s said in unison, looking up.

“No! The other one!” He pointed to the rebel one. “You! Why didn’t you tell me _I_ was the the deranged Blood King?! Why did you leave that out?!” 

The Ed paled. “Well… Um…” He stumbled.

“Yeah! My doppelganger came here, too?! He tried to shoot me!” Havoc yelled, looking at the boy as well.

“All our doppelgangers showed up!!” Fuery added. 

Everyone was officially yelling at the poor boy, venting all their rage that was built up all night long. The Elric brothers and Hughes paled at their words,as the other Ed winced at how loud they were getting, their words were becoming incoherent as time went on. Suddenly, with a scowl on her face she yelled,

“ENOUGH!” Riza manages to silence them on the spot with that one word. They all faced her like she was a mother scolding her children. “Enough. I know you all have questions, questions about your doppelgangers, the Blood King, and Hughes’ death. Even I have questions, but yelling isn’t going to solve anything. We all have learned a lot already, and need rest. So, let’s wait for the Major to fix up Hayate and us, and then we can all go to bed.” Their eyes dropped to the floor, letting her words sink in as she added more, “Now get off the floor and sit down, _please_ .” Riza finishes, and turns her attention back yo her dog.

They all silently got up, scattering around the room to sit as the silence engulfs them again. Their faces were painted with many emotions of guilt, exhaustion, anger, fear, and even being just stunned out of their  
minds. As they tried to shut off their brains for the night, there was just too many emotions and thoughts running through them to even think about shutting it off-

“William.” The Ed said, out of the blue.

The team looks up to find him looking back. “What?” Hughes asked, not sure why he said a random name.

“William. Just call me that. I notice it’s going to be too confusing when calling out ‘Ed’, so just call me William for the time being.”

“William.” Hughes said trying it out, however, he was confused about his choice of a pseudonym. 

“It’s my middle name.” He replies, dead serious.

Alphonse chuckled. “That’s your middle name, brother.” He said, laughing.

“Hey!” Ed snapped, a light blush on his cheeks. 

“Your middle name is ‘William’, Fullmetal?” Roy asked, eyebrow raised.

“My bastard Father gave it to me!” Ed faced Roy, baring his ‘sharp’ teeth (A/N Imagine dinosaur Roy but as Ed. XD).

“I think that’s a great name.” Hughes replies, smiling at William. A light blush under his one eye formed, as a smiled grew softly as well.

The door opens and the state alchemist enters, a handful of medical supplies in hand. “I’m back.” He announced. 

“Thanks again, Major.” Riza said, holding her hand out for the supplies.

“Don’t mention it, I’ve brought enough for all of you, since I notice some of you have injures.” 

They all finally got a good look at themselves, seeing nasty cuts and bruises forming that was obtained from the explosion. They hardly noticed, running for their lives was their number 1 priority, not checking if they had injures. As the Lieutenant started bandaging Hayate’s front leg, the child trapped in a suit of armor raised his hand; like he was waiting for permission to ask a question, just like kids his age would do when stuck in a schoolroom class. 

“Um, Major, How’d you find us, anyway?” Al asked.

“Black smoke. I’ve seen it all around town tonight. When I was coming home I saw some near the park, and then I kept seeing it until I found all of you in the alleyway.” Armstrong replies.

“So he’s just been randomly firing around town? That might be a problem.” Roy said, thinking. 

_“He’s either more dangerous or more stupid than I thought.” Roy wondered._

“If I may ask, why was I seeing double?” 

There was a sigh, and a scraping of a chair. “I promise Major Armstrong, that I’ll explain more tomorrow.” William said, coming up to the big man, holding his hand out. “I’m William Elric, pleasure to meet you.” 

“My god, you look like Edward Elric! B-but, how?” Armstrong asked, baffled while shaking the boy’s hand. 

“He’s my doppelganger, that’s why.” Ed cuts in.

William snaps his head around, glaring. “I told you, I’ll tell him more tomorrow!” He yells.

“Okay! Jeez, sorry.”

Now it was Hughes’ turn to sigh. “Kids.” he said. “Armstrong, do you think we could sleep here tonight?” 

“Of Course. But, I’m not sure how much sleep you’ll get, it’s only a couple hours away from sunrise.” Armstrong said, while passing the roll of bandages to William.

“And we all got work tomorrow, great.” Roy said, rubbing his eyes.

“Well, we can’t skip, that’ll make people suspicious.” Hughes points out, a panicked look on his face.

“Honestly, going into work is probably the safest place to be.” Falman pointed out also. Everyone was confused by his words.

“How?” Breda asked.

“Think about it, it’ll be dumb to storm Central Command, there’s what, six of our doppelgangers coming after us? So yeah, it’s a sucide mission if they try to come in to kill us, and exposing themselves won’t help their cause either. Besides, they may look like us but not completely, they can’t fool anyone into thinking it’s us.” 

“Wow. He makes a point.”

Roy sighes. “I hope you’re right about that, Falman. Central seems safe, I mean there’s over hundreds of soldiers stationed there, we’ll always have people around for backup.” He says, with a small smile on his lips.

“But what will the Elrics do, sir?” Riza asked, finally done bandaging Black Hayate. His little tail was wagging with joy.

“I can’t afford to send you on a mission yet, Fullmetal. Not until we this sorted out. You three will just have to stay here.” Roy responded, looking at the three Elrics.

“Yes, you three can keep an eye on Black Hayate then.” Riza replies. The dog barks, and the boys didn’t fight the older man on that. They all knew they couldn’t risk going anywhere without being seen by the enemy.

“If you want, I could send some of the maids to pick up stuff from your homes. Who knows how long you’ll be here.” Armstrong chimes in.

“I actually wouldn’t mind that, since all the stuff we grabbed from the Lieutenant’s place got destroyed.” Havoc replies, frowning when he realized their rations were gone.

“Ah, yes,thanks for reminding me. You can all pay me back later.” Riza said out of the blue, which made them all pale. 

“What…?” Fuery said quietly, nearly crying. Riza may not have expensive taste, but she always remembers when you need to pay her back, no matter how much it cost.

“We’re all going to go broke…” Breda said, sobbing.

“Oh, give me a break, you all work for the damn Military, I think you can afford what you lost.” Ed yelled with an eye roll.

Armstrong laughed. “You are all such a wonderful group. Now, please follow me to your rooms.” He said.

***Break***

“Holy crap! Look at all these rooms!” Havoc said. They were all in one side of the mansion that seemed like there was millions of doors lined up together. “How many guest rooms are there?!”

“Twenty-six.” Armstrong said,proudly. Glitter seemed to sparkle in the air as he spoke.

“Seriously?” 

“Choose any room you like! They’re all unique in their own ways!”

“Thank you, Major.” Roy said as they started disassembling. 

Right now, all they cared about was getting some sleep. Most of them just picked the first room they saw and slipped in.The two brothers peeked into a room, amazed by it. Al and Ed glanced back into the hall to spot the other Elric. 

“Hey, Ed- I mean, William. Do you want to share? This one has two beds?” Al asked, him and Ed gesturing to the door, both smiling.

William laughs. “Yeah, sure. That sounds great.” He says.

***Break***

“Hey, brother?” Al begins.

“Yeah, Al?” Ed replies.

“What do you think my doppelganger looks like?” 

The three Elrics were piled up into one of the grand (guest) rooms of the Armstrong family mansion, with two beds and their own bathroom,plus a sweet balcony. William Elric, the rebel leader from another universe, took the bed closest to the door, fast asleep with his back facing them; Alphonse Elric, the boy whose soul was stuck in a suit of armor, sat on the floor next to his brother’s bed; Edward Elric, the prodigy or infamously known as the Fullmetal Alchemist, laid in bed staring back at his brother.

“Your doppelganger? Not sure, haven’t given it much thought.” Ed replies, honest.

“We might look the same, given that we both are stuck in suits of armor. I wonder if his armor’s cooler than mine?” Al said, thinking.

Ed chuckled. “Like it’s entirely made out of gold?”

“Awe man, that’ll look weird,right?”

“And your hair’s made out of diamonds, too!”

“Brother, that just makes the image worse.” 

“Ha ha, you ask me for my opinion, so I gave it to you. Sue me…”

Al laughed lightly, drawing his soul-filled eyes to the sleeping William. “Is it weird that you have a doppelganger?” he asked.

“Weird? I don’t think that’s a strong enough word to begin how I feel, honestly I think everybody’s spooked after seeing theirs.” Ed replies, his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.

“Well, how do you feel?”

“It’s hard to explain, like I feel… strange, surprised, confused. But, I also feel… bad?” He raised his automail arm into his view. “Like, we’ve been through so much, seeing so many things, and yet… I feel like our life, my life is so much more together than his. Is that strange?”

He looks back at Alphonse, who nods slowly. “Yeah, that does seem strange, but makes sense too. He’s been through a lot but..” Al trails off.

“But, what?” Ed asks, taking his eyes off his automail. Watching Al tilted his metal head slowly to the side. 

“Doesn’t he look older to you? I mean, he’s about a foot taller than you, and in the face he looks more mature, like an adult.”

“I can actually see that, too.” Ed was looking at William now. “Does that mean his world’s in a different timeline?”

“Like in the future?”

“Yes. If he’s an adult, he must be at least three or more years in the future than us.”

“That sounds about right.”

Ed groaned. “Uh… This is making my head hurt.” He complained sinking more into his pillow, his eyes closed.

“Ed, just go to sleep, we’re stuck here tomorrow so you can sleep in if you want to.” Al suggested.

“I shall,I’m beat. Are you going to be okay on your own?” Ed asked, opening his eyes to look at him.

“I’ll be fine. Sleep.” 

“Okay then. Night, Al.”

“Night, brother.”

***Break***

Roy,Riza,Hughes,Havoc,Breda,Falman, and Fuery woke up to clean uniforms (thanks to the maids’ late night laundry cleaning service) and a big breakfast. They were all greeted by an extremely lively Armstrong. 

“Good morning! How’d you all sleep?!” He asked, sitting at the head of the table.

“Horrible, I only got three hours.” Falman complained, dragging himself to his seat.

“I need coffee…” Havoc mumbled, sitting down like everyone else.

As they began eating at the grand breakfast, they all noticed they were still exhausted, with pale skin and heavy bags under their eyes (and they’re pretty sure Falman’s asleep with his face in his coffee). However, they still made an effort to make small talk.

“I’m sending some of the maids’ to get your things. I also found a way to escort you all to Central without being seen.” Armstrong replies, taking a sip of tea.

“Thank you again, Major. We owe you one.” Roy said, taking a bite of an egg.

“Ah, Damn it.” Hughes cursed all of a sudden.

Roy raised an eyebrow at him. “What is it, Hughes?”

“I just realized we left our cars at the warehouse. They’re probably getting towed right now.” 

Roy just shrugged, turning his attention back to eating. “Well, there’s nothing we can do about, we’ll have to wait till this whole thing’s taken care of to get them.” 

“But I just bought that car! I don’t want to leave it in the lot!”

“Get over it.”

“Man, you’re so mean…”

Roy then heard snickering coming from his other men, his onyx eyes looking at the three of them, since Falman was _definitely_ asleep in his coffee. “What’s all the snickering about?” Roy asked them. 

They seemed to be giggling like school girls. “Nothing, we’re just laughing at our guest room themes.” Havoc replies, smirking. A childish glint in his eyes.

“Themes?”Hughes asked, confused.

“Yeah, each room has a theme. Didn’t you noticed yours?” Breda pointed out to his superior.

Hughes shook his head. “No. I honestly was too tired to notice anything.”

“Lieutenant, what room did you get?” Fuery asked.

“Mine was dolphin themed.” Riza replies, taking a sip of her tea.She seemed to be pleased with her room.

“Ooh, Boss! What did you get?” Havoc asked.

“I’m not replying.” was Roy’s answer, not meeting their gazes. Their faces fell.

“Awe, why not?” Fuery asked, frowning.

“Come on,boss. What did you get?” Breda asked.

“Not answering.” Roy said, still not looking at them.

“What did you get, sir?” Riza asked, curiously. Her tone was more demanding than questioning.

Roy looked at her with surprised. “Not you too,Hawkeye.” His voice was tinted with betrayal.

“What did you get,boss?” Fuery asked again.

Roy’s face turned slightly red as his eyes fell onto his plate. “I got… baby chicks…” 

They all burst out laughing, they didn’t even delay it for dramatic effect, they just went straight for it. Tears pricked at the corners of their eyes. 

“B-baby...chicks?” Havoc laughed, holding his stomach from the pain. 

“Baby chickens! That’s gold!!” Breda chuckled, banging his fist on the table. Roy hissed, burying his hot face into his shoulder. 

“Seems perfect for you on rainy days, sir.” Riza said with a cheeky smile.

“I hate all of you.” Roy muttered, as they kept laughing till their stomachs hurt.

***Break***

Major Armstrong managed to escort them in cars that had tinted windows, just for safety as they made to Central in one piece. 

_“So far, so good.” Roy thought._

He entered the building, his men and the other two soldiers walked behind, looking at him when he glanced back to speak in a semi-low tone. “Now, I know we’re inside HQ but if you need to go somewhere I would like you to go in pairs for now. Major Armstrong and Hughes, keep your subordinates near your office just to be safe. Understood?” 

They all nodded and replies, ‘Yes,Sir.'' to Roy as they kept walking to their offices. But, they suddenly stopped seeing someone ahead, quickly stepping off to the side to salute.  
With four guards surrounding him was Fuhrer King Bradley. “Your excellency!” The soldiers greeted as he passed by without a word, just like always, but for some reason today had a very different effect. Roy nearly shivered as he walked by, he didn’t know what or why, he didn’t know if it was the sword guarded by the sheath, or the way those metals and stars on the uniform popped out and mocked the young Colonel, or even the eye patch that seemed like it was his fault it was there…  
He didn’t know why, but he didn’t feel right.  
His chest became tight, like his bones and veins decided to intertwine itself together, his breathing felt like it was cut short and his stomach felt heavy with pain. 

**He didn’t feel right.**

“Roy?” Hughes said out of the blue, the Fuhrer now long gone. He saw his friend who was visibly tense, pale and wide eyed. “Roy?”

Roy felt sick. “I need to go to the bathroom. Excuse me.” He said in a hurry, before turning on his heels and speed walking away (Or was he running?). Hughes’ voice disappeared as he felt something rise up into his throat. He pushed open the door and went straight into a stall, not even caring if anyone would hear him as he dropped to his knees and threw up his breakfast into the toilet. Not long afterwards, Hughes and Breda came in with worried expressions.

“Roy?” Hughes said, concerned as he came to sit down behind him. Roy coughed and choked on the bile,making his friend pat his back.

“Boss?” Breda said, uncertain on what he should do. 

Hughes could sense this, and gave the man an order. “Stay outside. You and others guard this place so no one can come in. Go, Breda.” The gingered-hair man left, drawing Hughes back to his friend. “Roy?” He asked again, in a more gentle tone.

Roy managed to hack up a few more pieces, before flushing. His skin was deathly pale, letting out a sigh before shifting so he could sit again the wall. Meanwhile, Hughes somehow got himself to sit next to him. 

“What happen, Roy?” He asked.

The Colonel closed his eyes, trying to gather his thoughts before speaking. “The Fuhrer, seeing him… made me think of the Blood King.” Roy said, almost in a whisper. His dull eyes staring at his feet.

“Oh, Roy…” Hughes frowned.

“All I could see in Bradley was… _me_ . Me as the deranged Fuhrer.” 

“Don’t say that! You’re not the Blood King!”

“I am.”

“No you’re not!”

“I AM!” 

His voice echoed around the room, silencing both of them. Roy sighed, bringing his knees up some more, his elbows resting on them as he placed his conjoined hands on top of his forehead,leaning into them. “I am. You don’t have your doppelganger Hughes, you don’t know what it feels like. I’m him. That’s me, that rage, that bloodlust I saw in those eyes, that came from me. The way he spoke, moved… and his fire alchemy, that was me; all _me_ .” Roy says, lip quivering a bit. His hands tightening more. “To think I became Fuhrer in such a cruel way makes my skin crawl, and to see what I’ve done to the people around me, the people I care for, makes me sick.  
“To see my subordinates turned into those...those killers, it’s sickening. L-look at Hawkeye, she looked psychotic… and so did everyone else when they cornered us last night, and Fullmetal? Hughes I…” He looked at his friend. “I took Full- Edward’s eye out because I blamed him for your death, something that was out of that boy’s control and I took his eye out. I didn’t think I could do that,I didn’t think I could hurt anyone on the team like that, let alone a 15 year old boy… How could I do that to him? How could I do that to anyone?”

When Roy finishes, his eyes were pleading for an answer from his friend. But Hughes wasn’t sure what to say as silence bestowed them again. The Lieutenant Colonel gathered as much strength he could muster up. 

“You’re right, I don’t have my doppelganger here, Heck, I may not ever; And that may be you, but it’s not. You’re not the Blood King, You’re Roy Mustang, a young Colonel who’s working his ass off to get to the top the right way, your way. You can’t beat yourself up for something you didn’t do.” Hughes said in a gentle tone, trying to ease his friend.

“Then why do I feel guilty? Why do I feel so fucking guilty, Maes?” Roy asked, looking back down at his feet.

“I don’t know, but you can’t let that get to you though. Roy, I know it’s going to be hard, For fuck sakes, it’s going to be hard on everyone, but we can’t let this whole thing get to our heads. Let’s help William get home and let him fix this, _that’s_ the only thing we can worry about right now.Okay?” 

Roy swallowed hard at his words, blinking the tears away as he took a deep breath and a long exhale. “Okay. Let’s fix this. Let’s help, William.” He replies, shaking his head with new found determination. 

“Atta, Boy!” Hughes pats Roy’s back before standing up. “Now come on, the others are probably worried.” He held his hand out, making Roy smile a bit, taking it. Hughes pulling him to his feet.

“Maes?” Roy asked.

“Yeah, Roy?”

“Thank you. I needed to hear that.” 

Hughes smiled brightly, patting him on the back again. “Don’t mention it. I know you really meant it when you called me by my first name.” 

“I only call you ‘Hughes’, because we’re at work.” 

“Nah, you only call people by their first name when you really mean something, or even when it’s a special moment. Heck, I bet you call Hawkeye by here first name when you two are alone.”

Hughes winks and Roy blushes. “Gah! Hughes!” Roy yelled.

Hughes laughs and teases some more. “Oh come on, it’s only right you call your future wife by her first name.”

“Hughes, I swear!” 

“Swear what? Why? Do you not want me to talk about your wife?”

“Hughes, Just shut up! Will ya?!” 

He kept laughing as his friend’s face got redder and redder.

***Break***

William sat cross legged on the floor of the guest room; he had papers sprinkled with notes scattered across the floor, his one eye intensely looking at everything. He was so focused, he didn’t even heard the clanking of heavy footsteps across the floor, approaching behind him. 

“Hey, William.” Greeted Alphonse. 

William jumps, holding his chest before looking behind. He sighs. “Oh, Alphonse, you scared me.” He says.

“Oh,Sorry.” He bowed his head.

“It’s okay. Did you need something?”

“No, But Major Armstrong’s maids brought over brother and I’s things from our dorm, and I was wondering if you wanted to change your clothes?” Al held ups a suitcase to show the boy.

“Oh, Thanks. I’ll have to see if anything fits.” William smiles softly. 

“I think there might be something.” His eyes latched onto the notes. “What are you doing?” Al asked.

William Faces his notes. “Oh, I’m just looking over my research notes, trying to figure out what I did wrong and how to get home.” he says.

“Oh, do you need some help?” Al sits down as William nods.

“Yes. That’ll be great. I’ve been looking over the research notes me and Winry did, and I can’t figure out what went wrong.”

Al somehow looked surprised. “You and Winry?”

“Yeah. Win helped me out a lot, she was always by my side during the uprising. She even helped me research everything I needed, I was always thankful for that.” William replies, with a huge smile.

“Oh wow. If it isn’t too weird to ask, what did she look like?” Al asked.

“My Win? Tall, maybe just a couple inches shorter than me, she had her blonde hair cut into a bob and she has these big blue and gray eyes. Plus, she has a small scar on her cheek from the attacks. She’s amazing…” 

William cheeks seemed to flush pink as he had this look of love in his eye that Al could see clearly. Plus, he had this huge smile on his lips. How could anyone miss that? Before Al could question the look and the tone in his voice, somebody else arrived from behind.

“Who’s amazing?” Ed asked, coming into the room, catching their attention.

“Brother, he was just telling me about his Winry.” Al replies, brushing off William’s reaction (he’ll just have to ask him later). 

“Oh, Really?”

“Yeah,apparently his Winry has her hair cut into a bob.” 

“Oh, like when we were kids?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s cool.”

William chuckled. “I’m assuming your Winry has her hair long?” he asked.

“Yeah, she does. Oh, hold on, I think I have a picture.” Al said, reaching inside his armor to grab his own research book. He flipped through the pages until he found a photo, carefully sliding it out to hand it to William.  
She was dressed in a sundress, a light-pale pink color with a straw hat. Her long citrus hair blowing in the wind as she smiled with her ocean blue eyes. It looked like she was standing in a field of grass.

“Yep. That’s our Winry.” Ed said, leaning into his view.

“Oh,wow.” was all William said.

“She’s my automail mechanic. She’s currently doing an apprenticeship in Rush Valley. What about her? Is your Winry a mechanic,too?” 

“Yeah.. she built my limbs and everything.” His eye seemed to dull a bit, unknowingly to the brothers.

“She built my arm and leg, too.” Ed said, smiling proudly.

“Cool! Hey William, does your Winry like to bake, too?” Al asked, joyfully.  
A teardrop rolled down his cheek. The brothers froze. “William?”

“Hey, you okay?” Ed asked.

The rebel’s body shook, the photo in his hand match it. His head was also bowed slightly as well. “I’m… I’m sorry, but your Win…. she… she.. She looks the same.” He stated, as he began sobbing. “She looks the same. They all do… EVERYONE LOOKS THE SAME!!!” 

The Brothers stared in disbelief, but the other Elric keep talking. “Your mom.. Looks like mine, your Hughes looks like mine,... in a matter of fact, all your comrades look the same!” He grips his hair with his flesh hand,curling up and letting the dam spill. He sobbed and started apologizing. “I’m sorry.. I’m sorry… I can’t do it. I can’t stop seeing what my world’s become in your friends. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry everyone, It’s all my fault.!”

His sobs became loud that his screams seemed to drown in it. Gallons of salty tears pooled onto the floor, paper, and clothes, as the grip on his hair got tighter and so did the grip on the photo of Winry. The two brothers didn’t know what to say as clearly the eldest Elric was breaking down and blaming himself for something they didn’t understand. All they could do was wrap a comforting arm around him, as they let him cry and scream.

“I miss her… I miss him…” William sobbed,loudly. 

Both Ed and Al didn’t know exactly who he was referring to, maybe his Winry or his mother, and was he talking about Hughes? Or was its someone else? Roy maybe? Or was he talking about his world’s Alphonse? They didn’t know who, but they both put in the effort to say something.

“It’s okay, we know you miss them, we know it’s hard. We’re sorry.” Al said, softly.

“Yeah, we’re going to figure something out. We promise.” Ed adds, also speaking in his rare, soft tone.

“Exactly. Just let it out William, It’s okay to cry.”

And so he did. He sobbed and cried louder, harder as he screams for the people he loves…   
That are now gone forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh, Poor William, Poor Roy. Those two's emotional breakdown was the reason I decide to call the chapter "Go ahead and Cry little boy", I thought it fits well. But don't get comfy! There's SO much in store and some it is good, and others are...  
> Well, You'll see. *Evil Laugh* Stay tune for more!


	5. Fighting with myself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This information will tell me if this world is actually the same, and if it is…” There was an evil glint in his eyes. “..Then I know exactly what to use against Elric.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I've been a little busy, so I to delay my early update.  
> Last chapter was about hurt/comfort, and this chapter is.... well, you'll just have to read and find out.
> 
> Also, on a side note, are you a My Hero Academia fan? Then check out my two new fanfics about them: My Beloved Flower and Begin Again/Sea Castle.

He remembers what he felt like...

So numb, and there was pain inside. 

He remembers what he saw…

Blood. It was such a sinister color, and there was so much of it. 

He remembers when a soldier told him to come to the scene, saying it was urgent as he rushed over there as fast as he could.

He remembers the white sheet laying across the too-pale of a body, the sinister color oozing out, almost drenching his feet when he came closer to it.

The body.

His friend.

His glasses were long gone, lost somewhere at the scene. Those blue-green eyes were probably dull behind those closed eyelids.

He still couldn’t believe it. His friend was gone for good.

As he stood there in shock, the numbness in his chest went away with the pain as all he could feel was rage, rage bubbling to his surface.

He remembers the boy’s words…

_“I didn’t do it. You have to believe me, Mustang!”_

Then, there was blood all over his office. Some of his own and some of **that** traitor’s.

Everything else disappeared after that.

A cold hand touched his scarred cheek,one of his own as he lightly brushed it with his own fingers.

“Sir?” Captain Hawkeye said, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Roy didn’t even look back, he just continued to stare at the wall of the warehouse he inhabited. “Yes, Captain? Do you have an update?” He asked.

“Yes, sir. We do.”

“Do tell then.”

“Sir, we may have a problem.” 2nd lieu. Fuery replies, his tone filled with urgency. This version of Kain Fuery looked the same as this world’s one except with a full grown beard.

Roy’s eyes narrowed, but didn’t look back. He didn’t like the urgency in his own subordinate’s tone. It reminded him of _that_ day too much. “What kind of problem?” 

“Sir, we fear there might have been more people that came here than thought.” Captain Falman replies, taking over. His silvery hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

“Explain.”

“Sir. We’ve pinpointed where we all spawned here, since we didn’t come together.” 1st lieu. Breda continues. His hair was longer too, same goes for his facial hair. “We managed to pinpoint ours and Elric’s spawn point, but we came across an extra spawn point.”

This made the Fuhrer turn around, a serious expression on his face. “Can you tell me _who_ came through?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, no. We couldn’t find enough evidence to know who it was, sir.” 

He frowned even more. “And the traitor?”

“We couldn’t find him either, sir.” 1st lieu. Havoc replies. He too had some facial hair, along with one of his eyes only half opened.

The Fuhrer’s hands tightened into fists, as his eyes got darker. Suddenly, in a flash, he had his sword drawn and was holding it inches away from Havoc’s throat. The blonde swallowed and paled. The Blood King’s eyes narrowed again, piercing his soul. 

“And why not, Lieutenant?” he asked, stern but in an almost soft whisper.

“Um… No offense, your majesty, but we’re used to searching in ruined buildings; It’s been years since we searched in a free standing one. I mean, this world looks like ours before the war, so it’s been a little hard to get used to, s-sir…” Havoc stuttered.

The King sighed, pulling his sword away. “You’re right….” He froze. “Wait a minute…” He points the sword back at Havoc’s throat. “Say that again.”

“Um.. It's been hard to get used to..?” 

“No! The part about this world!”

Havoc flinched under his tone. “Um… ‘This world looks like ours before the war’?” 

Roy pulled away yet again, taking a couple of steps off to the side, stroking his chin as ideas flooded through his mind. “This world’s the same? It is the same.” He said, a smile creeping onto his lips.

“Sir?” Hawkeye asked, her and the other getting pale at his sudden mood swing.

“This world is the same way as ours before the war against the Rebels and our Military. Which means…” He looks back at them. “Captain Hawkeye, Captain Falman.”

“Yes, sir?” They said, standing straighter.

“Captain Falman, I need you to find military uniforms for me and Hawkeye. I need one for a Colonel and one for a 1st Lieutenant, got it?”

“Yes,sir.” Falman replies with a bow.

“Captain Hawkeye, once you get the uniform, I need you to do an undercover mission for me. I need you to steal some information, understood?”

“Yes, sir. But, what exactly do you want me to steal, your majesty?” She asked, curiously, hoping she didn’t cross a line.

He just grinned, scaring the others (grinning was never a good sign with him). “This information will tell me if this world is actually the same, and if it is…” There was an evil glint in his eyes. “..Then I know exactly what to use against Elric.”

***Break***

William, Edward, and Alphonse, along with the comfort of Black Hayate, sat in a circle while looking over the research notes (that were still scattered across the floor). Their faces twisted in concentration despite the dog’s light snoring. 

“I honestly don’t know where to start.” Al admitted, after a long time of silence.

“Yeah, me too. Can you tell us how you did all this?” Ed asked, the notes confusing the hell out of him.

William scratched his head, thinking. “If I'm being honest… it’s… a little confusing myself. I mean, I design this whole thing to be about time travel, but somehow in the mix-” He points to the hand-drawn transmutation circle on the paper. “-I accidently travel through worlds.” 

“But, isn’t traveling through space harder through time? Doesn’t that mean you somehow produce more energy than necessary?” Al asked.

“Basically… yeah. Huh, I haven’t really thought about it that way before.” 

Ed throws his head back, groaning. “This is making my head fucking hurt again.” 

“So I guess I have to use _less_ of the stone’s power?” William thought, furrowing his brows.

“How can you do that?” Ed asked, looking at him.

“Not sure… Oh… wait, I can’t. First I have to travel _back_ to my world, _then_ I have to travel back through time.” 

Both Ed and Al blinked.

“Okay. I’m out.” Ed stated, standing up. 

Al sighed, grabbing his brother’s leg. “Sit down, Brother.” Al said, pulling Ed back onto his butt. 

“Ow!” Ed cried out, wincing. “But, seriously, how are you going to do that all? And most importantly, how are you going to get back to your world?”

William raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? I’ll just use the stone I have.” 

Ed shook his head. “Yeah, you’ll use the stone, but are you sure you can get back to _your_ world? To the _exact_ same one? Didn’t you come here by accident? Like random?” 

William perked up, realizing what he was saying. “Oh, I get what you’re saying now. I won’t know if I’ll end up back home, I could just end up in another universe.”

“Exactly.” 

“Okay, how can you get home, like, guaranteed?” Al asked, both brothers looking at William for an answer.

He had one finger on his chin, thinking. “Hmm.. The only way I can think of, is if I had opened a rift between our worlds.” William replies.

“Rift?” Al and Ed asked, curiously.

William nodded. “Yes. A rift is like… an invisible passageway between our worlds, if I go through it, I may be able to go home.” 

“Then you have to create a rift then?” Ed asked.

“Correct. But how?” He went back to thinking, letting the room get quiet. Until, it finally hit him. He gasps, eye widening. “I already did.”

“What?” Al said.

“I already made a rift.”

“How?” Ed asked.

“When I first activated the circle, it was just me in the room, it was only _me_ who went through and ended up here; but, Mustang and the others somehow ended up here as well, which means…” William trailed off.

“-The circle’s still activated.” Ed finishes.

“William, you made a gateway through space!?” Al yelled, surprised. 

William sort of ignored him, finishing his conclusion. “I remember Winry warned me that soldiers were coming, and I wanted to act quickly… Oh god!” He gripped his hair. “I’m an idiot! I didn’t even look over the circle to make sure if it was right, I just activated it, and created a fucking gateway! Damn it!!” 

He slammed his automail fist into the floor, startling Hayate. Both the brothers looked at each other, worriedly. 

“William, it’s not your fault, you were just stressed and wanted to save Hughes.” Al replies, gently. 

The older blonde shook his head. “No. It is. Sorry,I’m stressed about all this, and I can tell it’s getting to me.” William apologizes.

“But look on the bright side! All you have to do is draw the same circle again, activate it and go home.” 

The rebel sighed. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”

“Why not?”

“If I activate it and go home, I'll get surrounded by soldiers that I just _know_ are waiting for me.” He looks at the other two Elrics, becoming sickly pale. “If I go home, I’m a dead man, the moment they see me I’ll have a bullet in my head and then my mission would be for nothing. So, I can’t.” 

“Then, you’re not going home?! What are you going to do then?!” Ed asked, starting to get annoyed.

William took a deep breath before looking at them, showing them that he was dead serious about his next reply. “I’ll go home, but I’ll need to tweek the circle, so I can be able to go through the rift, and travel back in time in one go.”

***Break***

“Careful, Sergeant.” Riza warned, holding up a stack of case files. The young man was stumbling a bit, the large stack in his hands was throwing him off balance.

“W-where should I p-put these?... whoa!” He stutters, eyes darting back and forth between the stack and the Lieutenant.

“Just set them on the table, we’ll just look through them here.” 

“A-are you sure? W-we can go b-back to the off-office.”

“It’s fine. I can tell you’re struggling.”

“Th-thank you, Lieutenant.”

Fuery stumbled forward, placing the large stack onto the table, Hawkeye doing the same. The two soldiers in Mustang’s unit were in the file room, picking out some information for their up and coming missions (Or aka, trying to get their minds off doppelgangers).  
The two of them began sorting out the files, setting in a somewhat comfortable silence, except for Fuery’s shaking hands. The older woman noticed and placed a soft hand on his shoulder, startling him a bit.

“Lieutenant?” He said, confused. He looked up at her with his big, onyx eyes, hidden behind his perfectly squared glasses.

“Are you okay, Sergeant? You see a bit flustered.” She asked, gently.

“O-okay. I’m still a little bit stressed about all this.” His shoulders slumped down, looking a little down.

“I can tell.” 

“What about you?” 

Now she was confused. “What about me?” 

“I can tell you’re uneasy as well. Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you looked at William yesterday, you know, back at your apartment.” She gasp. “You feel responsible for what happened to him, don’t you?”

Riza sighs, turning to lean against the table, eyes shut.

“Sorry.” Fuery replies, frowning.

She shakes her head. “It’s okay.” She said.

“You know, It wasn’t you who attacked him, it was your evil doppelganger.” 

“I know, I know. But…” She opens her sherry eyes, letting go of her stern mask that she wore at work, letting herself be vulnerable for just a moment. A rare moment for Lieutenant Hawkeye. “I know we’re not the same, but we are in a way. When I see William, I see Edward, _our_ Edward, and it hurts, it hurts a lot. We all care for that boy, Kain.” She looks at him. “I can’t be the only one who feels like this.”

Riza was frowning, as the younger soldier shook his head. “Of course not. We may not show it or say it, but we all feel the same way as you.” He states. “I mean, come on, even though he didn’t say anything, we all know the Colonel had a mini panic attack in the bathroom earlier, and it’s all because he saw _our_ Fuhrer as himself.  
“So yes, we all feel guilty in some way, Riza; We just have to find a way to cope and accept it. You’re not alone.”

Riza flashed a smile, a warm feeling in her chest. She stood a bit straighter. “You’re right, I’m not the only one, but we’ll all find a way to deal with this. Thank you, Kain. I needed to hear that.” she says. 

Fuery blushed a bit, feeling praised. “Um, You’re welcome.”

Her smile fell after that, but if you squinted a bit, you could see that it was still there. It was one of the many unique features of Miss Riza Hawkeye, one that people closest to her can spot so easily.   
But her mask was officially back in place, and both of them knew it was time to go back to titles and last names. 

“Now, keep filing while I go to get some water, Sergeant.” She says.

“Yes, Lieutenant.” he replies, giving her a small salute. “But wait, don’t you want me to come with you? We shouldn’t split up.” He sounded almost scared of the thought of her going off by herself.

She chuckled lightly. “I’ll be fine, the fountain’s just down the hall, it’ll be quick.”

“Okay, Be careful.”

He watches her leave, exhaling the breath he didn’t know he was holding before going back to work. Looking and putting different-yet-similar case files together before repeating it with another stack. To say what was on Sergeant Fuery’s mind, it was that ‘filing is a pain in the ass’. 

Time passed, however he doesn’t know how much since filing was like a time-sucking vampire for him, as his mind wandered, wondering why Riza was taking so long.

_“Is she okay?” he wondered. “What’s taking you so long?”_

He started to tremble again, getting scared for his friend’s safety, mind racing as he kept doing an unknowingly sloppy job at his work, and his task didn’t end till he felt a presence in the room. The brunette turns around, looking to see the blonde woman. He sighed.

_“She’s okay. Get a grip Fuery.”_

A smile plays on his lips. “Oh, Hawkeye, I didn’t even hear you come in.” He said. She almost seemed startled by his voice, but he brushed that off quickly (I mean, Like he said, everyone was on ease, right?). 

“Sorry. I was looking for something.” She replies, bending down to open the bottom shelf of one of the many filing cabinets. She starts searching through them, as Fuery’s eyebrows scrunched, fixing his glasses before walking over. 

“What are you looking for? I thought we already grabbed all the ones we needed. Did we forget one?” He asked, looking over her shoulder to see.

“We might have…. Ah, here it is.” She pulls out a file and holds it fairly close. But she was unaware that Fuery was examining her with his eyes.

_“She’s acting strange.”_ he thought. His eyes scanned till he spotted a flaw. She had three tiny holes on the helix of her ear, ones that were meant for cuffed earrings. _“The Lieutenant only has one piercing…”_ He mentally gasp, dark eyes widening, the night before flashing through his eyes. _“The other Riza had ears pierced like that.”_

He slowly took a step back as quietly as he could, reaching for his gun-

The other world’s Riza reached out, a hand slapping itself over his mouth, before being pinned on the ground. There was a knee digging into his back and a gun pointing to his head. “Don’t scream. Now, put your hands above your head, and don’t try anything or else.” She hissed, pressing the barrel further into his temple.

He did what he was told, he brought his hands above his head, palms flat against the ground. He tried to give her the best glare he could in the position his head was in. 

“You’re not the Lieutenant.” He said, muffled a bit.

Her eyes narrowed. “And you’re not my Fuery. You see, he has a full beard and looks like a man… and you? You look like a little baby, a helpless one that is. Pathetic.” 

_“Damn it… what the hell I’m I going to do?” He thought._

Her eyes continued to bore into his, until footsteps were heard, and the real Riza Hawkeye was finally here. And Fuery became scared, scared for himself and scared that Hawkeye might suffer the way the Colonel did earlier today, suffering a terrible case of PTSD that everyone in the unit had in some way. He held his breath, fear in his eyes as he watched her stroll in.

“Fuery. Sorry about tha-.” She began, before freezing up. 

The other Hawkeye at this time had yank Fuery to his feet, still holding the gun to his head as he kept his hands in the air. Riza was frozen. Her throat felt dry again even after drinking the water she craved, pupils shrunken, staring at her own. Her doppelganger was in a 1st Lieutenant uniform, ditching the black turtleneck she wore yesterday; her cuffed earring were gone, and her blonde hair was pinned back the same way; she even pulled the long bang out of her eye to make her look exactly like this world’s Riza Hawkeye.

Riza choked, panic setting in. No. Her commard was in danger, she couldn’t let fear consume her. She had to act quickly, and put that anxiety attack aside to save him.She too tried to reach for her hand gun, but her look alike’s voice broke through.

“ **Don’t** even try! Or I blow his brain’s out.” The Captain hissed. 

Riza bit the inside of her cheek, raising her hands above her head, away from her holster. “What are you doing here?” She decided to ask. Her doppelganger chuckled.

“Just following orders, you know how it is.” 

“Of course, I am a soldier.”

“Right. Cause we’re _exactly_ alike.” 

There was a pause, an exchange of glares from the blondes. Riza bit her cheek even more, thinking. _“I have to make a move, but what? I don’t want to risk Fuery getting hurt.”_

“Let Fuery go.” Riza decided, but was still unsure about all this.

The Captain still held her glare. “And why should I?” She asked.

“Just let him go, and I’ll let you go, no harm will come from me or the Sergeant.”

Fuery looked terrified at her reply. “Lieu-lieutenant!” he stuttered.

“Quiet!” The Captain said, pushing the gun further into his skin. She glanced back at Riza. “And Really? No harm? You won’t shoot me?”

“You have my word.” Riza replies, slightly lying. She’ll take her out when she has the chance.

The Captain just raised an eyebrow, before bursting out laughing, slightly scaring the other two officers present. “Oh, _Lieutenant…_ like I said before, we’re exactly alike.” 

She suddenly pushes and kicks Fuery in the back, before shooting him the calf. He cried out. “Fuery!” Riza yells, catching him. She dropped to her knees with the extra weight.

The Evil Riza smiled wickedly and walked past them to leave the room. “Well, Except for that part.” She whispers. 

Riza pulls Fuery close to her chest, his back against her. “Fuery?” She said, scared. He winced in pain from the bullet hole in his leg, the wound bleeding profoundly. He opened his eyes just a bit, looking up at her. 

“Hawkeye… go after her.” he said, weakly.

“What?”

“You need to go after her.”

“What? No, you’re bleeding badly, I need to get you to the hospital.” Riza started to feel the panic attack coming on again.

Fuery shook his head. “Hawkeye, listen to me, she took something, a file, I don’t know which one but it seemed important to her. You need to get it.” 

“Fuery-”

“And don’t you even dare pull rank! You’re fast enough, go!” He looked a bit angry.

Riza still seemed uncertain. “Fuery-” 

“Go! I’ll be fine!” He watches her look at the way the enemy left. His face softened. “Go.”

Riza bit her cheek the third time that night, before laying Fuery down on his back, standing up. “Don’t you dare die, Sergeant! That’s an order!” 

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, I already told the Colonel I won’t.”

And She ran, leaving him behind. Which was hard for her, the thought about leaving an injured friend of hers alone made her ill, but he was right, she needed to get that file back. She was now lightly jogging, slowing her pace when she came up to a hall full of soldiers. She didn’t want to alert anyone about this. 

_“Where’d she go?”_ She thought. She looked around with her eyes, finally noticing some of the men and women in blue were giving her strange looks. _“Why are they…?”_ A gasp. _“Follow the stares and they’ll lead me right to her.”_

Riza took off again, following the strange looks that were given to her, ignoring the whispers of her name and people calling out for her. She slipped out of the crowd of soldiers belonging to the nightshift, going down the many, many hallways of Central HQ. She hits the brakes, the trail going cold as she finally hit the hallway where nobody was around, the moment she was dreading that might have happened.

_“Damn it. Where is she?”_

A door slammed shut, and Riza whipped her head around to spot it was one of the main entrance ones. She broke off into a full on sprint, throwing herself through one of the many doors. She then saw her evil self that was smiling back at her before pressing the button so the elevator platform could go down. Riza cursed, turning and bolting down the infinite flights of stairs.

Her doppelganger was far out the door way before she was, but that didn’t stop the Lieutenant; Not even when her lungs burned, crying for some air. She couldn’t let her go, not until she got that file back. She threw herself out the door again.   
She ran along the path, officially out of the military base and was traveling along the sidewalk. Unfortunately, Riza hits the brakes again, seeing nothing but the moat surrounding the base on her left, and the row of cars on her right. Her brown eyes squinted into the city night. 

_“Where’d she go?” She thought._

Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her close and up high that her toes were only touching the ground. 

“Following me, _Lieutenant?_ Not really that smart, aren’t you?” The Captain replies, bitterly.

“I’m surprised you stuck around, _Captain_.” Riza hissed, before wiggling her arm out to elbow her attacker in the throat. 

Riza spun around just in time before a fist came at her head, missing her by inches. The Captain steps back, fists up and in a fighting stance. Riza tried not to let fear consume her, or let it show in her face. She was scared, scared that she might not win this battle, because she was never a grade-A student when it came to close range combat, or any combat in general. It was the reason she always stood behind guns, they were her comfort zone, her safe place. However, right now she couldn’t risk firing one, not wanting to attract unwanted attention (not to mention, how the hell is she supposed to explain this to some guards?).  
Riza mentally sighed. Well, everyone’s got to step out of their comfort zone eventually.

The Captain smiled, and threw a kick in which Riza blocked with her arms. Another kick and a block, and this time Riza managed to lay a hit on her cheek. The Captain was stunned for a moment, and Riza saw an opening. She went for another punch, but the Captain caught her fist,then grabbed the back of her neck with her open hand, before bringing her knee up into Riza’s stomach. Harshly.

Riza gasped for air, feeling a horrible pain where her ribs were.Broken. Then, the Captain threw her back, landing a single punch into her face. Riza was sent backwards, black spots danced around her eyes, blood running from her nose as pain flooded her lower half just before she tripped, and plunged into the icy cold water of the moat.

***Break***

Captain Hawkeye marched back into the warehouse she and the others occupied. There were lanterns on as their light source, the dusty windows were covered so one could see in from the outside, blocking the moonlight in the process. She walked past the four other low ranks, coming up to the Fuhrer.

“You’re majesty.” She said, catching his attention. He turns around, his appearance surprising her. His sword and sheath was gone, his uniform was now one belonging to a Colonel; his hair was messy and his left eye was covered by a white bandage. “Um… Sir, you’ve changed your clothes.”

“I did. I had to get dressed up for this moment. The file?” He replies, acting a little bit calmer than usual, putting her on edge.

“Yes,sir.” She hands it to him. “Why exactly did you want his file, sir?”

He starts looking through it, replying, “Like I said, if this world’s exactly like our before before the war, then I know exactly what to use against Elric.” He scrolls through it, an evil grin grew as he read something delightful. He closed it shut. “Gentlemen!” 

The remaining four soldiers stood up, coming to stand next to Hawkeye. “Yes, sir?” They said.

“I’m going to order you all to stay put here for now, while I go on a little mission of my own.” He replies.

“Sir?” Hawkeye began.

But Roy only smiled, ignoring them as his plan to take down Elric was still brewing in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, Captain Hawkeye's brutal.   
> And what's Fuhrer Mustang planning?  
> And are Riza and Fuery going to be alright?   
> And how is William going to pull off a stunt like that?
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Stay tune!


	6. Getting Out Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He whispers to her softly as the memory that started all this, creeped into his mind; Wishing that this was a dream and that everyone he knew still loved him like these world's look alikes do. He always would asks why?
> 
> Why did the love of his family have to be taken away?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the next chapter!  
> First, I would like to apologize that it took so long. I got caught up in trying to finish some of my other stories, and for some strange reason this chapter was tricky for me to write. But it's here! The next chapter. 
> 
> Thanks for sticking around! Enjoy this chapter!

Her back hit the ground hard, the current moving her towards the side, slowly drifting away. Blood ran from her nose, the pain from it was melting away along with the pain from her ribs. She saw small specks of moonlight above the water, calling her as the treacherous dark spots covered her vision, leaving her mind in a fog. Her lungs burned for the air she wasn’t getting, as she slowly was going cold and numb from the icy waters that engulfed her. 

She failed. She lost. She failed her comrades, her boss, her friends. She lost the battle against her evil self. She was a disgrace. An abomination to herself and the others. She couldn’t even follow a simple order.

**“I’m only giving you one order to obey…. Don’t die!” Her boss’ voice rang in her mind.**

_“I know Roy, I’m sorry.”_

**“Oh, Lieutenant… like I said earlier, we’re exactly alike.” Her doppelganger taunted.**

_“Right, we are the same. We are the same.”_

**“I want you to shoot me if I astray from my path. That’s an order.”**

_“Sorry Roy. I can’t help you with that….”_

**“Will you follow me, Lieutenant?”**

**“Yes, sir. I’d follow you even into hell, sir.” She heard her own voice.**

_“Hell. I’d follow him into hell… I’d follow him into hell! That’s it!”_

Riza gasped for air after a sudden realization. She took in the air that surrounded her before turning to the side to hack up water. She then felt a hand gently patting her back.

“Take it easy, Lieutenant! You’re okay.” It said.

Riza coughed, opening her eyes slightly to see she was lying on the sidewalk next to the moat. _“Huh?”_ she thought, before continuing her wet coughing; the hand still patting her back.

“Easy, easy. You’re hurt.”

Once she could control her coughing, she manages to make herself sit up, despite someone’s pleas for her not to. She blinks a couple times,  
shooing away the blurriness to see a young soldier, a private, next to her.

“Are you okay, Lieutenant?” He asks, his gray eyes alert.

“F-fine.” She said, slowly before glancing at the moat. “How did I…?” 

“My colleague pulled you out. We were at our post when we heard something, and we saw you fall in. He went to go get a first aid kit while I did CPR on you.” He frowns. “Sorry. I might have broken your ribs more, sir. My apologies.” 

Riza looked at him in a slight daze, but was grateful for what he'd done. “N-no. It’s okay, thank you, Private.” 

He gave her a warm smile, before asking the million dollar question. “How’d you fall in, sir? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I.. well….” The punch to her face flashed before her eyes, the memory of her tripping and falling replayed. The blood dripping onto her uniform and- 

Her eyes widened. _“Fuery.”_ She thought. 

She once again ignored the Private’s warnings, and the pain in her body. Riza pushed herself up to stand on her wobbly feet. A wave of dizziness consumed her, along with a sickly feeling. She was pale, shivering to her core as pain from her stomach, chest, and nose shot out everywhere. Riza tried to take in a breath, at least a shaky one, but it hurts too much. She could feel her nose becoming swollen, making it harder for her to take air through the nostrils. 

_“It hurts. But I can’t let it stop me… I have to help the Sergeant.” She told herself._

She took a small step forward, and another, and another, as she kept repeating it as she made her way towards the front entrance. 

“Wait! Lieutenant! You shouldn’t move!” The Private yelled. He was ignored, But kept yelling (and wished he was a higher rank to get his point across), even after she disappeared out of his sight. “At least wait for a blanket! You might get hypothermia!”

She was gone, out of sight, Riza made sure of that. She needed to get to the Sergeant, however, she needed to stay out of people’s ways as well. Luckily, it was getting pretty late, not a lot of people would be in the base, but still, she needed to be careful. 

_“Not to mention my doppelganger might not be the only one here, there could be others. Shit.”_

She hissed at the pain, pushing herself up the long flight of stairs. 

_“And if I come across another one… I’m not sure I’d live.”_

***Break***

Roy stopped writing his paperwork in mid-sentence, a feeling of dread came across him. “Something’s not right.” He mumbled, his dark eyes looking around the room. He saw the remaining three soldiers, Havoc, Breda, and Falman, sitting in a circle, playing a game of cards since they had nothing else to do, and couldn’t go home. “So it’s not them. Am I just overreacting?”

But the feeling never went away, not even when his phone rang urgently late in the night. Roy felt his stomach drop, usually he doesn’t answer the phone when he’s about to turn in his paperwork for the day, but due to last night’s event, he felt the urge to. He reached for the fearfully, placing it up to his ear.

“Colonel Roy Mustang’s office, Colonel Mustang speaking.” He spoke the line he always had to repeat everytime the phone rang, hoping it was a business call and nothing else. 

_“What if it’s like the call Fullmetal made to me?” He wondered._

“C-Colonel! It’s Fuery!” Someone yelled.

Fear came back. “Fuery?” He said,calmly, feeling his men pausing their game to look at him. “Why are you calling? Aren’t you in the filing room?”

_“Please tell me you’re fine. Please tell me you’re fine.”_

“I am! And no time for more questions, I need you to grab the others and meet me here with a first aid kit.” Fuery said, quickly.

Yep. The fear was back at full force. Roy tries to remain calm. “First aid kit? Fuery, what’s going-”

“Colonel! Just get down here, now!”

And the line went silent.

“Oh… _Shit!_ ” Roy cursed, slamming the phone down on the receiver. He shot out of his chair, seeing his subordinates doing the same.

“Boss, what’s wrong?” Breda asked, worriedly.

“That was Fuery, he told me to grab the others and meet him in the filing room with a first aid kit.” He replies, slinging his coat over his shoulders.

“What? Is he okay? Where’s Lieutenant Hawkeye?” Havoc asked.

“I don’t know… But, I don’t think we’re alone.” Roy clears his throat, shoving the worry feeling down and going straight to business. 

_“No time for panicking, my men are in danger, I can’t freak out in a time like this.” He told himself._

With a serious expression and a tone of authority, he gave out his orders. “Alright, listen up! Falman and Breda, I need you to get Hughes and Armstrong and meet back at the filing room. Havoc, you’re with me. I need you to grab a first aid aid kit. Let’s get going, we have no time to lose. Understood?” Roy ordered.

They snapped their heels together for a salute. “Yes, Sir!!!” they yelled.

The soldiers grabbed their belongings and ran, the Warrant Officer and 2nd Lieutenant were the first ones to leave the office; while the other 2nd Lieutenant grabbed their mandatory first aid kit, and followed the Colonel out of the office. They ended up jogging the whole way there since there were barely any soldiers to begin with, but the eerie feeling was still there, making them both sick.

And they were about to be sick.

Roy’s worst fears came alive when him and Havoc entered the room. There laying near the phone on the wall, with a huge bullet hole in his calf, was one of his subordinates. 

“Oh my god! Fuery!” Havoc said, both of them sprung forward, kneeling down in the pool of blood. 

Roy touched his shoulders lightly, getting his attention. _“He’s starting to pass out.” He thought._ “Sergeant! What happened?!” Roy asked, trying to remain somewhat calm.

“I g-got sho-shot.” Fuery stuttered, slowly.

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Fuery, I’m going to clean the wound, so hold still.” Havoc replies, opening the kit.

“M’kay.” Fuery mumbled, as the blonde started taking his boot off and rolling up his pant leg for better access.

Roy glanced at the wound, wincing at the sight of it. It honestly reminded him of Ishval a bit. Every soldier there either died or was injured from at least one bullet. It made him almost visibly shiver. Almost. He turned back to his paling friend below, trying to keep him awake. _“Get him talking, Roy. Get him talking.”_

“Fuery?” Roy said.

“M’yeah?” Fuery mumbled, cloudy eyes looking up at him.

“Listen, I know the pain must be horrible, but I need you to stay awake. Can you tell me what happened? Why were you shot?”

The younger soldier took in a shaky breath before answering. He was starting to feel very weak and lightheaded, but he could see what he’s commanding officer was doing, so he pushed through it. “B-both m-me and Hawkeye were doing o-our job, but then she needed some w-water, so she le-left. N-not long afterwards, s-she returned, and w-was looking for a specific f-file.  
“Be-before I realized it wasn’t h-her, I-It was t-too late. She sh-shot me, Hawkeye’s doppelganger did, as a distraction. The r-real Hawkeye didn’t want to leave me, but I told h-her to chase after her f-for the file.” Fuery stuttered, finishing.

Roy’s insides twisted. “Did the Lieutenant go after her doppelganger?” He asked, the worried tone coming through. His damn mask was starting to slip as the day went by. How much more of these jumpscares can he take?

“Y-yes.” Fuery’s eyes started to sag, a mixture of exhaustion and strain from not wearing his glasses (they fell off when he was crawling towards the phone).

Roy swallowed the bile in his throat. He remembers what the Captain was capable of, seeing that she fought William ferociously. To be honest, he was scared to death by now. “How long ago? How long ago was this?” 

“D-don’t kn-know… fifthteen minutes? Thirty?” 

“Damn it. Who knows where those two are.”

“All done!” Havoc interrupted, just as he finished bandaging the Sergeant’s leg. 

Roy sighed with relief, before helping Fuery up. “Good. Now we have to wait.”

Which wasn’t very long, because footsteps were heard soon after. His two men along with the Lieutenant Colonel and Major have arrived, stopping at the sight of it all.

“Holy shit! What happened?!” Hughes asked, eyes going wide at the sight of blood on the floors and walls. 

“Fuery got shot.” Havoc replies, packing up the first aid as quickly as he could.

“What?!”

“It’s Hawkeye’s doppelganger.” Roy stated, frowning. “She came in and stole a file of some sort, and shot Fuery as a distraction. Our Hawkeye went after her.”

“Not quite, sir.” Hawkeye’s voice suddenly broke through, causing all eyes to look at her. She was leaning heavily against the doorframe, and had one of her arms slinged over her stomach, and ribcage. She was shivering to her core, pasty white with a black and blue nose smeared in blood.

“Holy shit, Hawkeye.” Breda said, surprised at her appearance. 

“Lieutenant?” Roy said, worriedly while standing up from the floor.

“I’m sorry, I caught up with her, but couldn’t beat her. I lost the file, too.” Riza said, looking apologetic.

The blonde hair, blued eyed Lieutenant stood straight, coming over to her at a fast speed. “Who cares about the file? You’re all banged up. What’s broken? Nose?” Havoc asked, examining her cautiously. 

“Don’t know about the nose, but my ribs are definitely broken.” 

Fear consumed Havoc, his stomach tying itself into knots. A small feeling in his mind crept up, a small feeling of being in war. He remembers the war being nonstop action of highs and lows. Mostly lows. The way this battle against their doppelgangers was going was not helping his bad memories and anxiety; the anxiety of not being able to save people in need with his medical knowledge. Which… Unfortunately, he couldn’t save them all, and that same dreadful feeling was coming back at him as he examined his two friends. Today was not a good day for _these_ memories to return. 

Luckily, his commanding officer spoke, bringing him out of his nearly frozen state.

“We have to leave.” Roy said, catching everyone’s attention.

“Do you want to go back to the mansion?” Armstrong asked.

“Yes. It’s the only place that I think is the safest.”

“What about the Lieutenant and the Sergeant? Shouldn’t we get these two to a hospital?” Hughes asked. Worried could not begin to describe how he was feeling.

As much as Roy wanted to, he couldn’t. He shook his head at his friend. “No, we can’t. Hawkeye’s doppelganger got onto the base so easily and even fooled Fuery too. We can’t risk going into public places.” he replies.

“So.. wait, no more work then?”

Roy said nothing, moving onto his next plan. “We need to get going, we’ll patch their injuries when we get to the mansion. Let’s move quickly, we don’t know if we’re alone.”

They all nodded, and got to work. Breda and Falman helped Fuery to his feet, slinging an arm over each of their shoulders, while Havoc let Hawkeye lean onto him for support, surprising himself at her cold touch.

“Your clothes are soaking wet!” He said.

“Oh.. I fell into the moat.” She said, nonchalant. 

“What?!” Him and Roy said, eyes going wide.

“You fell into the moat, Hawkeye?” Roy asked, his serious composer was slowly breaking with every turn of events these past few days (seriously, how is his hair not white yet?). 

“I-I got knocked into the moat, sir.” Riza replies. 

“How’d you get out? The currents rough in there.” 

She stayed silent for a moment before answering, “I just swam out, sir.” 

With a quick glance into her eyes, Roy knew she was lying, but didn’t push it (he knows they’ll just talk later). With heavy footsteps approaching the only woman, the very muscular Major came forth. 

“I’ll carry her. In the condition she’s in, she shouldn't be moving that much.” Armstrong replies.

“I’m fine Major, I can walk.” Riza says. She was excellent at hiding her pain with a straight face.

“That wasn’t up for negotiation. I’ll make it an order if I have to.” 

And that’s all it took for her to allow him to carry her. An order. Or at least threatening it was going to be one. Everyone knows the stoic Lieutenant Hawkeye couldn’t disobey an order. She sighs before nodding, giving him permission. As gently as he could, he lifted the woman into his arms, and this time, she actually winced at the movement. Armstrong frowned at this.

Roy clears his throat. “Alright, let’s move. I’ll lead the way.” He replies, heading out the door first.

Hughes’ worried face vanished into determination, following after his friend. “I’ll lead with you.” He calls out, shaking his head when Roy tries to protest.

The eight of them moved rather quickly, navigating through the nearly empty halls of Central HQ, only moving out of sight when they spotted someone. It was either that, or the unharmed soldiers would cover Fuery and Hawkeye from the people. They couldn’t risk anyone spotting the injured…. especially since they won’t be back for work tomorrow. They ended up taking one of the many back ways out of Central where the cars Armstrong provided were parked.

“Let’s get everyone into the car, Injured first.” Roy ordered, unlocking and opening one of the cars’ doors. 

Breda and Falman helped Fuery into the backseat first,making sure not to strain his leg. Then, Armstrong bent down and put Hawkeye into the car, and once again, she winced at the slight movement. 

“Are you two okay?” Armstrong asked, concerned.

The woman nods. “Yes, sir.” Riza replies.

“F-fine. I’ll be okay.” Fuery said, slowly.

“Good. Just relax, we’ll get you two home.” Armstrong adds.

They both smiled weakly, but it faded rather fast. Both their eyes widened. 

The Master Sergeant gasps. “Arm-” He begins, but Hawkeye slaps a hand over his mouth and pulls him down onto the floorboard.

The Major tilts his head, super confused by their sudden actions. “Um…”

Suddenly, there was a rhythm of footsteps, one that military soldiers have drilled into their heads. Armstrong stands straight up, along with everyone else outside the car. All of them tensed up, as Breda kicked the door close before he and the others turned around, facing the oncoming person. 

They nearly fainted at who it was….

The Fuhrer.

They quickly snapped their heels together and saluted. “Your Excellency!” They chimed. They watched as Bradley and two guards walked over, stopping upon seeing them.

“Ah, I wasn’t expecting to see any of you this late.” Bradley said, while both Fuery and Hawkeye buried themselves deeper into the floorboard, sweating in fear.

“Well, We got done later than expected, sir.” Roy stated, keeping his calm composer. 

“I see.” His green eye falls onto Havoc when glancing at all of them individually. It narrows. “Is that blood on your hands, Second Lieutenant?” 

Havoc's eyes went big, falling to his hands to see they were painted red. “Uh… well…” He stutters.

“And blood on your uniform, Major?” Bradley asks, seeing the sacred liquid on his uniform.

Armstrong tensed. “Well, You see… sir…” He begins.

“I was sparring!” Havoc blurted out, all eyes facing him immediately. “I got into sparring with Major Armstrong. I’m still learning the ropes, so I ended up busting my knuckles, sir.” Jean hopes his nervous tone didn’t show.

Bradley raised an eyebrow. “Sparring? What made you decide to take that on?” 

“The… Elric Brothers, sir. I saw them sparring and I thought it would be a good thing to learn since, you know, in case I can’t use my weapon in a fight, sir.” 

Everyone paled under the judgemental stare the Fuhrer was giving Havoc, who was trying his best not to squirm under it. Eventually, he shrugged and smiled. 

“Well, I think that’s a wonderful hobby to take on. Keep up the good work, Lieutenant.” Bradley replies. 

“I will, Sir.” Havoc says, nodding.

“I won’t hold the rest of you up, you should get some rest. And, Lieutenant?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Might want to be careful next time, and bandages those hands up.”

“I will, sir. I probably have some bandages in my car.”

Bradley nods, and continues to walk off with his two guards into the night. Once they were out of sight, the adults nearly collapsed in fear. 

“Thank god you came up with that excuse.” Breda replies, holding his chest. 

Roy sighed. “I didn’t think we’d run into the Fuhrer this late.” He replies, honestly.

“Well… I always heard that the Fuhrer takes late night walks outside the base.” Falman replies, sweating. “I just didn’t think we’d run into him.”

Hughes sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Luck isn’t on our side today, isn’t it?” He asked. Suddenly his breath was caught in his throat, a sense of urgency overcame with it. “Wait! What about Hawkeye and Fuery?!” 

Everyone froze at the thought of them just as Armtrong threw the car door open. All they saw were the two of them laying on the floor… unmoving. 

His ocean blue eyes widened. “Shit!” Havoc said, brushing past and checking their pulses. 

“Jean?” Breda asked, scared.

“They’re alive, barely. Looks like Fuery’s wound is reopening and Hawkeye might be going into shock, we need to get them home!!” 

Roy groaned, gripping his hair. He felt his mask starting to slip again. “Fuck. Okay… Havoc, stay in the back seat and apply pressure to Fuery’s wound.” The blonde nodded. “Hughes, get in the car and watch Hawkeye. The rest of you get into the remaining two cars and let’s get to the mansion!” 

Everyone scrambled at his orders, quickling piling into their arranged areas they were ordered to do. Roy got into the driver’s set as Havoc and Hughes sat on the floorboard after placing the injured people back in their seats. Havoc shook off his jacket, pressing it into Fuery’s calf. Meanwhile, Hughes reached out and pressed his hand onto Riza’s forehead, frowning at her cold skin.

“She’s freezing cold.” Hughes said, he looked back at the Colonel. “Roy, we need to get going! She’s starting to get hypothermia.”

“On it, Maes.” Roy replies, starting the car and pulling off the curb rather fast. He squeezed the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white as fear gnawed at his stomach lining.

 _“I’ve got to get them home, they’re both losing too much blood.”_ Roy told himself. He catched a glimpse of his men in the rearview mirror for a split second, before his eyes darted back to the road ahead. _“You know the order… You cannot die before me. I won’t allow it.”_

And Roy stepped on the gas pedal a bit more.

***Break***

“This is crazy, right?” Ed whispers to his brother. Both of them were standing out on the balcony while watching William do his work inside. They were trying to give the older Elric some space to immerse himself in his research to get back to his universe.

“Yeah, But… it might be the only way he can get home.” Al replies, truthfully. Tilting his metal down head to look at his brother.

“Yeah, but still. It’s a lot… it can’t be good for his sanity” 

Al nods. “True…”

Ed slouches a bit against the railing on his back. “It’s a lot of pressure for him, he only has one shot at this.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard you sound so worried, Brother.” 

Ed didn’t say anything else, until he heard screaming from inside the house. “What the hell?!” He yells, throwing the sliding door open, running inside.

“What’s going on?” William asked, bolting up from the floor at the noise.

“We don’t know! Come on!” 

The Elrics ran out of their room and downstairs to the main entrance, seeing their friends rushing inside.

“Lay them down in the room!!” Roy orders.

“Colonel, what’s going on?” Al asked, worriedly.

“Doppelganger. Hawkeye’s look alike showed up at HQ and injured the Sergeant and Lieutenant.” 

“And you brought them here?” Ed asked, worriedly, but also angry. He gave his commanding officer a glare, which Roy returned, saying nothing.

So, Hughes chimes in. “We couldn’t risk bringing them to a hospital.” Him and some maids brushed past the alchemists with some medical supplies. 

The two of them decided to break their eye contact to move into the room, not ready for the depressing scene.  
Hawkeye was laying on the couch, unconscious, and fighting the icy cold temperatures in her body. Fuery laid in an oversize chair with his leg propped up, looking like he was fighting a fever.

“Oh my gosh…” Ed said, in disbelief.

While everyone seemed to move quickly around, William felt like he was stuck in slow motion, feeling rather ill. He took in the batter forms of these world’s look-alikes. He paled, tensed up at all the blood and sleeping bodies.

“No…” William whispers, one eye shrinking at the unwanted memories came flooding in.

_Blood was all over the concrete. His gloved hands desperately tried to stop the bleeding._

_Blue-green eyes rolled back and the light faded from them instantly._

_He remembers the cold stares and harsh whispers of the people. From strangers… his friends._

_“Fuery… why are you looking at me like that?”_

_“Hawkeye, please… you know me, please.”_

**“I’m sorry, Edward.”**

_“No. Please… Hawkeye… Mom…”_

William backed up slowly, panic arising along with these terrible, terrible memories. He needed to leave. He had to. He couldn’t stay here with these guilty feelings. "I’m sorry….” he whispers, before exiting the room, speeding up the stairs where he could disappear from their sight. To disappear and to let himself curl up and cry, to let himself break down completely. 

**“Ed… don’t cry. It was just a nightmare.”**

Winry would always tell him that. She always comforts him throughout those troubling five years; she was always by his side through thick and thin…. But now, she wasn’t. He left her all alone back in his world.

_“All alone. I left her alone. I left her all alone with those soldiers…” He realizes._

At the end of one of the hallways, he couldn’t take it anymore. While running, he let himself fall to his knees, ripping his pant legs open, busting his flesh knee. He let his tears roll out of his amber eye, as he muttered apologizes to people who weren’t there with him.

“I’m sorry Win.” 

A sob. 

“I’m sorry Alphonse…” 

Another sob. 

“I’m sorry Hughes…” 

And another. 

“I’m sorry Hawkeye…” 

And another. 

“I’m so sorry Roy….”

Another another.

“I’m so sorry!!!!” He sobbed, and screamed in the lonely part of the house where no one could hear him cry his heart out. 

***Break***

“- Fuery has a bullet wound to the calf with a small infection, but luckily his fever broke. Hawkeye has two broken ribs and a fractured nose. She also has a small case of hypothermia, but with the fireplace and a few blankets, I think she’ll be okay.” Havoc stated to the remaining people in the room.

The two injured soldiers laid fast asleep, gathered on the couch and chair as comfortable as they could be.

“Good work, Jean.” Roy said, gratefully. The worry feeling started to cease.

“So… let me get this straight, they were attacked by Hawkeye’s doppelganger?” Ed asked, still processing the story. He was still a bit shocked that she managed to get inside HQ, and trick the Sergeant so easily. 

“That’s what Fuery said before he passed out. It’s still hard to believe she got onto base.” Hughes replies, feeling a bit unwell about it.

“Well, I hate to break it to you all, but looking at all your doppelgangers, miss Hawkeye’s looks the closest to hers.” Al says, sadly.

“He’s not wrong.” Breda says, letting the unwelcoming silence come. 

Falman swallowed hard, shifting uncomfortably. “What do we do now, boss?” He asked.

And from this moment on, Roy let his mask fall off completely. Normally, he wouldn’t do this in a time like this, but between the limited hours of sleep and the many jumpscares today, he let it slide just this once. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.” He replies, frowning.

The unwelcoming air suffocated them, draining them of all their energy, sucking it out like blood-thirsty vampires. The muscular Major sensed this, and tried his best to ease their tension.

“How about this, why don’t we don’t we all try to get some sleep? We’re running on 3 hours of sleep, so it’s probably for the best.” Armstrong replies with a forceful smile on his face. 

“That… that doesn’t sound bad. I honestly can’t think straight right now.” Breda says, the exhausting taking its toll.

“Y-yeah.” Falman agrees, dreaming about finally getting some sleep. 

“Wait. Someone should keep an eye on Hawkeye and Fuery.” Havoc replies, cautiously.

Everyone looked at one another, before the Elrics decided to step in.

“We’ll-” Ed begins, raising his hand. 

“I’ll do it.” Roy replies, to everyone’s surprise.

“Roy?” Hughes said, shocked.

“I’ll do it. I’ll watch them.”

“But, Roy-” 

He holds up his hand to stop his friend’s protests. “Trust me Maes, I don’t think I’ll be getting any sleep between the two run ins by Fuhrer Bradely, and what happened to me in the bathroom earlier; And now _this._ ” He points at his injured subordinates. “Trust me, I’ll watch them.”

“What happened in the bathroom?” Ed whispers to the Warrant Officer.

“Long story, I’ll tell you later.” Falman whispers back.

“Wait, Colonel! Maybe I should do it, you know I don’t need sleep.” Al chimes in, worried for the older man’s health.

Roy smiles lightly, looking up into those red orbs with kindness. “Thank you for the offer, Alphonse. However, I want to do this, not that I don’t trust you, but I could use the distraction.” 

“Colonel, are you sure you want to do this?” Ed asked, forehead arched with worry lines.

Roy looked at him with a puzzled look. “You sound worried for me, Fullmetal.”

The adults faced the golden blonde, all in shock by his words and tone. 

Ed blushed a bit, looking away. “Well… I am.. This whole doppelganger thing is taking a toll on everyone, especially you…” he said, flustered.

Now everyone had a surprise look on their faces, that even Al somehow looked flabbergasted. 

Roy couldn’t express what he was feeling right now. He didn’t even know that his youngest subordinate paid attention to him like that, that he actually noticed the poor state he was in right now. _“Well, he’s always so observant,but still…” he wonders._

“Fullmetal?….” Roy begins, before gold orbs snapped back at him, with a small speck of anger in them, a very small drop of it, while most of it was filled with worriness. 

“Don’t let that get to your head, Colonel Bastard. I’m just telling you what’s on my mind.” Ed replies, truthfully.

The flame alchemist couldn’t help but feel touched by the fifteen year old boy’s words. They made his chest feel warm. He also couldn’t help but grin. “Wow. I’m touched, Fullmetal.” He says.

“Bastard.” Ed mumbles, crossing his arms.

“But I’ll be fine, I still want to watch.” 

Ed sighs, shrugging. “Suit yourself then.” He taps his brother’s chest plate. “Come on, Al.” 

Al nods slowly, still a bit eerie about leaving the Colonel alone, but complied. “Okay.” He says, before waving to the adults. “Goodnight, everyone.” 

“Goodnight, boys.” Hughes replies, waving tiredly back.

The Elrics left the room, catching only a glimpse of their conversation, 

“-That’s the second time you’ve been worried today, Brother.” Al whispers.

“Well, what do you expect?” Ed whispers back. “Also, have you seen William?”

“No, I haven’t.”

When they were gone, Hughes started to wonder where the other Elric was, but pushed it away to look at his friend one last time. “Are you sure you’re up for this, Roy?” He asked, frowning at his friend’s sluggish appearance. 

“I’ll be fine, go get some rest. Don’t make me make this an order to all of you, because I will.” Roy replies, dead serious. 

Everyone kept their mouths shut as they gave a sloppy salute, before turning on their heels leaving. Hughes spared Roy one last glance before he left the room, leaving the Colonel to do his job, or his distraction, from the dark thoughts of these past two days that still haunts him.

***Break***

An hour past before Roy felt like his eyelids were going to close, slumping in his chair. He shook his head and patted his cheeks lightly. _“Wake up.”_ He told himself. 

He let his onyx eyes scan the room and the people he cares about. Both the blonde and the raven haired boy were lying fast asleep with steady breathing. He sighs. _“They’re doing fine.”_ He slowly stands up, stretching. _“I’m going to need coffee. I know Armstrong has that expensive kind… expensive and strong.”_

He slipped out of the room, heading for the kitchen while completely missing the person passing him in the hallway. 

The person walked into the makeshift hospital room, coming up and looking at the injured, frowning at the sight of them. A quiet sigh passed through William’s lips as he pulled the chair closer to the Lieutenant. The uncomfortable feeling was spread across her sleeping face, making the guilt come back.

 _“She really does look like my Hawkeye.”_ He thought, lip quivering, feeling his eye sting with tears again. 

“It’s all my fault you’re like this…” He whispers, before reaching with his flesh hand to take hers. “I’m sorry.” He raises her hand to his forehead, closing his eye and letting the tears fall again. “I’m sorry… the both of you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry….I’m so sorry, Lieutenant…” 

He whispers to her softly as the memory that started all this, creeped into his mind; Wishing that this was a dream and that everyone he knew still loved him like these world's look alikes do. He always would asks himself _why?_

Why did the love of _his_ family have to be taken away?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: William's backstory. It'll be split into two (or more) parts. Make sure you bring your tissues! 
> 
> Until next time, stay tune and stay safe!


	7. Heart Made Of Glasses (William Elric's Origin Story Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> William started to shake as well as reality started to set in, his lower lip still quivering as he couldn't trust his own voice to speak his name again. So, he settled for laying his forehead against his friend’s unmoving chest, before letting out a blood curdling scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I've been super busy, but here it is! The next chapter.
> 
> **Warning: This origin story/chapter may trigger some readers. So be careful***

Glass. That's what it's made of.

Not blood or vessels. Glass.

He doesn't have a heart made of metal. It's just glass.

But he never knew this, not until _that_ day. The day that changed his life. One that changed history. One that he dreads and regrets.

And here's how it all started for Edward "William" Elric.

**-5 years ago-**

Major Elric yawned and stretched as he entered Central HQ, fixing his coat that was starting to get small on him. He smiled at the thought of himself growing a few inches. _"Thank whatever God for boy's late growth spurts."_ He told himself. He strolled through the many hallways until he made it to his superior’s office. With his gloved hand on the door knob, which he was about to turn, he quickly froze in place when he heard someone’s hysterical crying coming from inside the room.

“Come on, try again.” Someone said, sounding rather calm.

“I can’t! I can’t remember anything!” Someone else said, sounding panic-y.

William raised an eyebrow. “What in the world?” He mumbled, before opening the door. 

Everyone in the unit was there doing their work, only a couple of them glanced up to see who it was. A blonde woman with a long bang, looked up from her paperwork and smiled brightly. 

“Good morning, Ed.” She says.

William waved. “Hey, Second Lieutenant. Who’s crying?” He asked, curiously.

“Oh, That’ll be Fuery.” Havoc cuts in, jerking his thumb at his crying friend. He was sitting at the back table along with Falman.

“Why’s he crying?” William asked, confused.

“Oh, he can’t remember anything for his test.” Falman replies, showing the blonde boy the test sheet. “He’s dying to be a Lance Corporal.”

“I can’t help it! I know the answers, but my mind goes blank when I start taking the test!” Fuery cried, gripping his hair.

“Settle down, Private.” Roy said from his desk, his eyes still glued to his paperwork.

Fuery suddenly stands up, pushing back his squeaky chair. He then points furiously at his boss. “Easy for you to say! I don’t see anyone calling you a twelve year old Private!” He snaps.

“Twelve?” William asks, feeling intrigued by this new turn of events.

The Private’s shoulders sag a bit. “Yeah. For some reason people think I’m younger than you….”

“Well, I hate to break it to you, but you do have a bit of a baby face.” Breda replies, truthfully. 

His cheeks flush as he touches them. “I do?” Breda nods. “Do you think I should grow a beard?” 

Havoc let a smirk grow on his face, also intrigued by all this. “Oh yeah… you should.” He says, before pointing next to his ear on his cheek. “You should grow your sideburns out too.”

Breda’s face lights up at this opportunity. “And you should grow your hair out long too! You’ll look pretty cool.” He gives him a thumbs up.

Fuery’s face flushes again. “I-I don’t want to look like a viking! I was just talking about my beard.” He says.

“Yeah, and we’re telling you to grow it all out.” Havoc continues.

“No way! I’m not doing that!”

William smiles a bit at the sight. This was the team he worked with. The people he came to care about over the years. They were,  
Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang,  
Second Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye,  
Master Sergeant Vato Falman,  
Private Kain Fuery (Who’s was trying to be a Lance Corporal),  
Warrant Officer Jean Havoc,  
And Warrant Officer Heymans Breda. 

Then, there was himself, a Major, the rank he’s had since he was thirteen, for three long years. For those three long years he’s done the taboo, joined the military, and it’s been dead ends, after dead ends trying to find a way to get his and his brother, Alphonse’s, bodies back. To regain his flesh left arm and right leg, and for Al to regain his whole body since his very soul is bonded to a suit of armor.  
He craves for that day to finally come, welcoming it with open arms. He hopes that their bodies will be restored before they’re both adults; Which… was only two years away for him. But that was the perfect motivation for himself. He was determined to make it to that deadline.

“Fullmetal.” Roy called out, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, Colonel?” William said, looking at him.

His face was serious, the ‘all business’ look as he spoke. “May I speak with you?”

“Uh, sure thing.”

As the blonde approached the desk, The Lieutenant Colonel faced the rest of his team. “Listen up, I want you all to take your five. I need to talk to Fullmetal, in _private._ ” Roy replies, with a bit of emphasis on the last word. He knew his subordinates like to ease drop outside the door whenever it was just him and Fullmetal around. Apparently they like the “drama”.

His team exchange looks with one another before standing up and walking out to take their five minute breaks. Once the door was fully closed and sensed no one was listening, William’s gold eyes were immediately on the older man’s onyx ones.

“What the hell’s going on Colonel?” He asked, holding back the concern in his tone. It was rare for a moment between them like this, especially if it was work related.

Roy sighed. “You know those drug dealers we took care of a couple months back?” He asks, folding his palms together and resting his chin on his fists. 

William’s forehead became etched with worried lines, having a strong feeling where this might be going. “Yeah, the Black Mantis… or something like that. Why? Don’t tell me there’s more.”

“I would be lying if I told you they weren’t. They’re back, and they have much more than ten guys like last time.”

“How many?”

“From the stakeout that the military did a few nights ago, they’re saying about anywhere around forty-to-fifty guys in the warehouse.” 

William’s eyes widened. “Oh no… seriously?”

Roy nods. “Yep.”

“And we’ve been assigned again, haven’t we? At least that’s what I’m assuming.”

Roy sighs again. “Well, yes and no.” He leans back into his oversize leather chair to think. “You see, June’s our busiest month when it comes to completing missions and tasks around Amestris, so a lot of soldiers have their hands full, including me.”

William raised an eyebrow, catching on what his superior was trying to say. “So… you’re giving the job to me?” 

Roy nods again. “That’s correct. However, here’s the tricky part. Like I said, a lot of soldiers are preoccupied already, including some of our own teammates. The only ones who don’t have their hands tied down are Hawkeye and Havoc.” 

“So I only have two other people to take down the drug gang?” William was getting a bit irritated and worried about this whole thing. Three against forty? Fifty? The odds were definitely not stacked in his favor. He always hated when June came around and ruined everything for him and his teammates.

Roy could sense this easily and decided to ask, “Is Alphonse back yet? You could ask him to join you.” 

The teen shakes his head. “No, he’s still in Resembool with Winry.” 

“Okay… Um..” The man thought long and hard before a name crossed his mind. “How about Major Hughes? I don’t think he has anything he’s working on.”

“Hughes?” He stopped to think about for a moment, he knew the Major was quite reliable and skilled out in the field, so it would work out. “Yeah, I guess I could call him up.”

“Then it's settled.” Roy sits up straighter once again, leaning forward onto his desk. “I appreciate you taking over, I definitely owe you one.” 

William waves him off. “Eh, don’t worry about it, it’s my job to take over for you at times.”

“Still though, It means a lot to me.” He then smiles. “I’ll see if I can find any leads for you and your brother. Maybe you can meet Al somewhere back east once this is over.” Roy replies, feeling a bit relieved that someone on his team could take the case off his hands.

The sixteen year old grinned at those words. “Alright, I’ll hold you to it. See you soon, Mustang.” William said, after swiping the case file off the desk. He starts heading for the door, still listening as his boss spoke.

“Careful, Fullmetal. These guys are super dangerous, you can’t do anything too rash.” Roy warns.

“I will, don’t worry. I promise I won’t charge into the building like I always do.” He stopped when his hand was on the doorknob, glancing back with fiery amber eyes. “Beside, I’ll have back up.”

“I know. You know the order, Fullmetal.”

He starts waving him off. “Yeah, Yeah, I can’t die before you, I got it. You don’t have to tell me everytime I go out.” He opens the door while rolling his eyes, ignoring the way Roy was smirking.

“Just thought you needed a reminder, that’s all. You’ve hit that _small_ head of yours quite a lot over the years.” 

The blonde snapped his head around, looking bitter. “Who are you calling SMALL?!” He lifts his gloved finger at him. “Enjoy those small jokes because I’m about to surpass you in height! I’m five-nine now, you know?!” 

Even if he was yelling, there was a hint of amusement in his tone that only a hand full of people could pick up on, Roy being one of them. 

The raven haired man raised an eyebrow, tilting his head slightly. “Oh, really? Are you sure you’re not gaining height with those boots of yours?” He teased.

“Shut up! I stopped wearing those boots ages ago.” 

“Oh, really?” His eyes trailed to the boy’s feet.

“I said, shut up!” He groans. “Goodbye, Lieutenant Colonel.” 

“Goodbye, Fullmetal.”

The door slammed shut loudly, but the way it closed didn’t belong to a person who was frustrated or angry; Roy knew William was just messing around with him (like always). 

He smiled. _“That damn kid…”_ He thought, picking his pen up to start writing again. He was worried, he’ll always be, but he trusted Fullmetal to get the job done. 

Roy sighs with relief. _“I really do care for that kid, don’t I?”_ He chuckles. _“If Hughes was here he’d end up teasing me about this… Hawkeye too.”_

He was worried? Yes, but he has confidence in his youngest subordinate to get the job done. What could possibly happen?

***Break***

William strode ahead of Second Lieu. Hawkeye and Warrant Officer Havoc. All three standing straight as soldiers ran by with stacks of case files, or was rushing off to a meeting or to get a mission. They soldiers were huffing and puffing, some looking over worked or were about to fall ill due to stress. It was sickening to watch, and it was all thanks to ‘wonderful’ June.

After a long period of silence, the blue eyed man decided to take a long drag from his cigarette before asking, “Where are we going, Chief?” Havoc asked, his eyes catching a glimpse of the youngest before they looked straight ahead.

“We’re going to Major Hughes office. We’re going to need another set of hands for this mission, and it seems like he’s the only one available.” William replies.

“Just the Major? Is four even going to be enough?”

“Not sure, but it’ll have to do, no one else is available. Unfortunately…” He mumbled the last part, a bit irritated. Not with Havoc, just with the whole thing. 

After another period of silence, they finally arrived at his office. They knocked, waiting for a reply before entering. They were met with a lively man, one with bright blue-green eyes, black hair, glasses, and clean shave. He got up from his chair, as he was finally getting something good out of this long, dreadful week.

“Ed!! I haven’t seen you in a while. How’ve you been?” He asked, as the three of them approached his desk.

William sighs. “Alright. I actually got back a few days ago.” 

Hughes looked surprised by his answer. “Oh… really?” He chuckles nervously. “I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t had time to stop by Roy’s office.” He rubs the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed with himself. “So, what brings you here?” 

Another sigh rolled passed Willaim’s lips, before frowning. “Well.. I’ve been assigned a mission, but I need some help.” 

“What kind of help?”

“I need another set of hands. Do you remember the drug gang Mustang’s team and I handled?”

“Yeah?...” His face fell with horror. “Oh no, don’t tell me they’re back.”

William nods. “They are.”

“Damn. That’s bad news.”

“It is. I already have Havoc and Hawkeye’s help,” He gestures to them. “But due to the busy month, we’re short staffed. The Colonel told me you might be able to help out.”

Hughes hums, thinking. His fingers stroking his chin, a thing he did when he was in deep thought. “How many?” He asked out of curiosity.

“Forty-to-fifty.” William said, point blank.

“Jeez. And there would be only four of us?”

“Wait, you’re going to help?”

“Of course, my hands aren’t tied down yet. However, I hope you have one hell of a plan to pull this off.”

He grins. “I sure do.”

***Break***

_“In order to win this, we have to somehow disarm them all.”_

_“Disarm them? But there’s fifty guys! How are we going to do that?”_

_“Maybe we can smoke them out? Or maybe…”_

_“We have knockout gas.”_

_“Knockout gas?”_

_“Well.. sort of. Our scientists made it. It’s sort of like a bug bomb for people, but it releases some type of gas… I think it’s made of chloroform.”_

_“Chloroform, huh? That might work actually.”_

_“Oh yeah, and then Chief can use his alchemy to keep them in place till we can get them to prison.”_

_“Then it’s settled. We get in, knock them out, and get them to prison. Let’s try to avoid any kinds of fighting while we’re at it.”_

Their conversation still echoed in the back of their minds as they managed to get on the roof of the warehouse. They shedded some of their brightly colored clothes for something more darker, to blend into the shadows. William used his alchemy to open the rooftop door, making sure they all got inside before taking the lead. He kept his palms close together in case he needed to change his left arm into a blade, while the adults kept their hands on their holsters. They didn’t have to go all the way down the metal stairs, only breaking off at an entrance for an empty catwalk. They dropped to their elbows and knees and crawled right before the actual catwalk began. They stopped at the edge of the platform, peeking down at their targets below. Groups of men ranging from various ages paced around with guns and knives in their hands, some were counting money, while others checked on the hundreds of crates they had that were filled to the brim with drugs.

“Damn.. that’s a lot.” Hughes whispers, frowning.

“Which is why I wanted to avoid coming into close contact with them. There was no way we could beat them.” William whispers back.

“Then let’s make this quick.” Havoc suggested.

They slid on the masks they had around their necks, covering their noses and mouths as they quietly removed the bags off their backs. As quietly as they could, they zipped them open, reaching in and pulled out the canisters, ready to unscrew the cap….

A crate dropped, and Hughes tensed at the similar sound of a gunshot, and became so startled that he accidentally dropped the unopened gas over the edge.

“Shit…” he said, watching it fall. 

It hit the ground, making a clanking sound which everyone stopped to check out. The drug dealers eyed the canisters, before drawing their guns at the catwalk above. Meanwhile, the small team had flatten themselves even more to the floor.

“Did they see us?” Hawkeye asked, quietly.

“Don’t know…” Havoc replies, nervously.

“Shit, Ed, I’m sorry. What do we do? I fucked up.” Hughes asked, worriedly.

William gulped, his heart beating quite a bit in his ears as he tried to keep his calm facade up. “We can still do it… we’ll just have to act quickly, but quietly as we-” 

A gun suddenly cocks behind them, their breaths stopping short. They slowly turned their heads around, seeing a single barrel pointing at them. William noticed it was pretty much in his face, nearly seizuring as he could sense the trigger was about to be pulled. The man behind the weapon squinted, not even mustering up a word as the blonde boy knew what was coming next… 

So, he clapped his hands together in a flash, grabbing to destroy the gun just as it went off, missing his shoulder by mere inches. Then, he swept the man off his feet, slamming him into the ground; and that was the beginning of _this_ hell filled night.

Guns started firing from below, making William drop back down, facing his teammates with a battle-ready tone.

“Abort! We need to get out of here!! The mission’s over!!” He yelled over the heavy gun fire. He saw his comrades nod, following him as they crawled to the stairs. They stood up on their feet upon hearing a stampede of footsteps coming up the stairs, cutting off a way to escape. “Go up! Go up!” He waved them to go up first as he followed behind.

A couple enemies below tried to fire at them as they ran up the infamous flight of stairs, some were way off and some were deadly close. Hawkeye was one of the first ones that made it near the top, stopping only to take aim and fire at the men who were closing in. Soon, Havoc joined her as William and Hughes raced to catch up. Bullets bounced off walls and into people as it was indeed an unfair fight.

The blonde Second Lieutenant cried out as a bullet pierced her shoulder. “Hawkeye!!” The Elric yelled, finally next to her.

He couldn’t even check the wound when Havoc pulled her away from him; and soon, Hughes pulled him away too. They ended up on opposite sides, standing in where two hallways trailed off the flight of stairs. More bullets were fired as they flattened themselves against the cold brick walls. 

“Should we try to go for the roof?” Havoc yelled, holding onto Riza as she winced at the applied pressure to her wound. His blue eyes held quite a lot of fear, which William couldn’t blame him for.

“I don’t think that’s the wisest idea.” Hughes replies, truthfully.

William bit his lip, his mind racing a mile a minute. He was the leader of this mission, it was his job to get them out of here safely. But right now, he wasn’t so sure he could get all them out since they were caught in a heavy crossfire. _“Come on Elric, this isn’t the time to be panicking. You’ve got one job to do. You have to get them out.”_ He scolded himself. 

His fists tightened together as he barked out his order. “Listen up!” All eyes were on him so suddenly. “We’re not going to be able to regroup due to this heavy fire, so we’re going to have to stay split up.” He points to the two blondes. “You two are going to have to move on your own, don’t stop to come looking for us, get out if you can.” 

“What?!” Havoc yelled, his eyes going big with shock.

“Are you crazy? We can’t just leave you two.” Hawkeye says, concerned in her voice. 

“Ed’s right, we can’t meet up like this. Besides, you're injured Lieutenant, you need to get some medical help.” Hughes adds, agreeing with the sixteen year old.

They both look hesitant, before nodding slowly. “Yes, sir!”

“Good. Now, get going! And watch each other’s backs!” William says, watching the two of them move down the hallway, out of sight. He then turns and taps Hughes’ arm. “Let’s go!”

“Right behind you!” the older man replies.

And they were off. They ran down the long, menacing hallway as they could hear footsteps and gunshots, and screams of pain everywhere they went. William used alchemy to defend himself, while Hughes used his gun and some daggers at close range enemies. He even smacked the bag of canisters into one of the drug dealer’s faces when they rounded the corner. The two military men’s hearts beat faster and faster, as heavy pants come out of their breaths, and there was an ongoing ringing in his ears as they went left and right, up and down; watching as bodies dropped and bullets grazed their own skin. Somehow, they made it to the bottom floor of the warehouse where all the crates were, and ended up pressing themselves against one. The men tried to catch their own breathes.

“There’s got to be a way out.” Hughes mumbled, as the two of them peeked out a bit to see.

William let his gold-green eyes look around, perking up when he spotted a familiar duo slipping out of the warehouse in the corner of the room. He let a blissful, relieving sigh pass his dry lips before turning to his friend. “I see the others, apparently there’s a way out over there.” He replies, watching Hughes’ stress levels go down along with his own.

“That’s good.” Hughes said, searching around again. “Looks like the coast is clear,.. For now. We should go.”

The alchemist nods, and turns to take off…

A **fatal** shot. 

The sound of Hughe’s agonizing scream.

It was like it was all in slow motion when the teenager turned around. Blood pooled out of the man’s chest, his eyes wide and mouth open for the scream as he fell onto the ground with a loud ‘thug'; his glasses falling and cracking as the bullet casing rolled right next to the teen’s feet. He stared, before painfully looking up to the person who pulled the trigger. 

The man seemed unfazed by what he'd done, keeping the same expression as he raised his gun at the child. William wasted no time to use his alchemy, creating something that popped out of the wall, hitting him in the gut to double him over. William’s face flashed anger, before dropping to his knees with a worried expression.

“Hughes! Hughes, say something!” he said, only getting a few distressful grunts as a reply. He paled, as he started to shift the older man. “Hold on! I’m going to get you out of here!!!” 

As carefully, but as quickly as he could, he leaned Hughes against his back, shifting forward as the extra weight took over. William wheezed, huffing and puffing at his irritated lungs. _“Okay… I can do this. I can do this.”_ He told himself.

He slowly took the first couple steps before taking off in a wobbly sprint for their lives, running straight for the door that was the exit. He rammed it open, his two tone eyes scanned the area to see if Hawkeye or Havoc were around. They weren’t. It didn’t matter at this moment though, they had made it out, they had to be okay. So William took off again, running past a few rows of the other warehouses before breaking.

His lungs cried and whaled as he slowly took the older man off his back, laying him on the ground like he was a fragile toy. Hughes coughed harshly upon the contact, and the teenager wasted no time to drop to the ground, his hands hovering over with uncertainty. 

“Major?” the boy gasped, holding back fresh tears in his eyes.

Hughes groaned, opening his eyes that were starting to cloud over. “E-Ed?” he whispers.

“Hold on, I’m going to stop the bleeding!” He ripped his jacket off, bunching it up together and pressed into the wound just above his heart.

“E-Ed…” Hughes croaked, seeing William’s gloves get stained red along with his black jacket.

“Shit.” William cursed upon seeing it.

“E-Ed…”

“I forgot you have an entrance wound on your back.” He starts trying to take his tank top off with one shaky hand. “H-Hold on, I’ve got you.” 

“E-Ed…”

“Stop. You’re going to be fine.” 

“Edward!” He grabs his arm, making the boy face him. “It’s o-over… I-I’m n-not going t-to make it…”

William stared in disbelief, before shaking his head, his lower lip quivering. “No… No,no,no. You’re going to be fine. You’re going to be fine!!” 

“Ed, I’m t-through.”

“No! You’re not!” 

“Ed, you’re just g-going to h-have to accept it.”

“How can I? I’m the leader of this mission, it’s my fault you’re hurt!”

“I’m t-the one who dr-dropped the canister, I-I started t-this whole gun fire. It’s my fault… not yours. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.”

“You can’t die! What about your wife and Elicia?!”

“G-Gracia knows.. That t-this is the m-military… she’ll understand. And Elicia…” He gives a sad smile. “S-she’ll understand one day too.”

“Hughes….” William croaks.

“Ed…” He squeezes his arm tighter. “G-go get your bodies back, y-you and Al, don’t l-let my death hold y-you back..” Hughes replies, before violently coughing, specks of blood dripping everywhere as his tight grip started to loosen. 

William panicked even more. “Hughes.” He watches his eyes start to close, and he quickly reaches out to grab his face. “Hughes! Hughe, don’t close your eyes! Don’t close your eyes, please! Answer me, Hughes!!”

Under his flesh palm, he could feel his skin get colder and colder by every passing second; and no matter how much he pleads and shakes him, his eyes never opened after he saw the light go out of them. William started to shake as well as reality started to set in, his lower lip still quivering as he couldn't trust his own voice to speak his name again. So, he settled for laying his forehead against his friend’s unmoving chest, before letting out a blood curdling scream.

***Break***

Tires screeched to a halt just as the sun was rising, before someone got out and slammed the car door in a panic. For once, Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang let his fear show on his face as he walked around the front of his car, seeing all kinds of reinforcements already at the scene. His dark eyes looked around for any members of his team. He soon spots one sitting in the back of an ambulance, with a blanket wrapped around his seemingly small form, as his eyes stay glued to the ground.

“Fullmetal.” Roy said, taking a step to go see if he was okay.

“Lieu. Colonel.” Someone calls out from behind. 

Roy glances back to see it was just another soldier at the scene, but he quickly notices the pile of hand written notes tucked by his side. Roy eyed them before asking, “Are you the one who’s incharge of reporting this?”

The soldier nods. “Yes, Sir. I got a call from Warrant Officer Jean Havoc to come here, along with a few ambulances.”

“I see. What’s the status?”

“Well, there was a gun fight in the warehouse that caused a lot of people to get killed and injured. I would say from the…” He glances at his notes. “-Fifty guys here, I would say only a _quarter_ of them actually survived. Maybe even less.”

“Anything else?” 

“Yes. Second Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye got a bullet to the shoulder, it wasn’t too fatal, but the paramedics still took her to the hospital. Warrant Officer Havoc had a bit of a PTSD episode, so they gave him some sedatives to calm him down. Major Edward Elric seemed to be experiencing a mild version of one of these episodes too, so they gave him some sedatives as well. They should be laying around the scene somewhere by now.”

Roy nods. “Anything else? I thought Major Hughes was on this case as well?”

The soldier froze. “Major Hughes?”

“Yes. Major Maes Hughes. He’s on this mission, right?” He looks around again.

The soldier swallowed hard, putting the notes away. “Sir, about Major Hughes, he’s….”

“What is that?” Roy replies urgently.

The soldier followed Roy’s widened eyes that were staring at a white sheet that wasn’t too far away. He paled. “Sir-”

The flame alchemist took off, jogging straight for the sheet, not caring that he was standing in a pool of fresh and dry blood. He froze, a bad feeling in his gut as he could hear the soldier come up from behind him, urging him to get away. Roy didn’t listen, instead he bent down and pulled back the sheet that made his breathing stop. 

His friend, his academy buddy, his war buddy, his college, his subordinate, his brother from another mother, was dead. Dead like the feeling in his chest, a feeling that was there along with nausea, pain, confusion, disbelief, sadness, and so many more. How in the world is this even real? 

“Hughes…” He whispered, feeling his eyes sting slightly was tears. This couldn’t be real, it just couldn’t, but it was. He knew it deep in his heart.

“Such a shame. He was a good soldier.” 

Roy looked up to find a silvered hair man with tan skin, a high ranking soldier everyone knew well. “Lieutenant General Raven.” He says, dropping the sheet and standing to give a salute.

Raven waved the young Colonel off with his charm. “No need to salute. I understand you might be in pain, I know you two were pretty close.” 

“Yeah, We've known each other since our academy days.” Roy frowns, breaking eye contact for a split second to stare back at his friend’s body.

Raven sighed. “Poor man. This could have all been avoided if Major Elric didn’t rush into battle like he did.” 

Roy’s head snapped up at the older man’s words. “What?”

“Major Elric, according to the reports, he ran in head first into the warehouse, hoping to catch them by surprise. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, and they ended up firing their guns.” He sighed again. “Such a shame that Major Hughes had to suffer the price for your subordinate’s stupidity.” 

Roy looked shock, as his head slowly trails to his youngest member sitting in the ambulance, his words from earlier still echoed in his mind,

_“-I promise I won’t charge into the building like I always do.”_

At that very moment he felt his blood start to boil, to boil at a promise that teen made and didn’t fulfill. His eyes darkened, and his hands turned into fists. “Will you excuse me for a second, General.” Roy begins walking off again, missing the way Raven grinned mischievously. He walks up straight to his subordinate, clearing his throat so those dull amber eyes look in his cold coal ones. “When Hawkeye gets out of the hospital, you and I are going to have a chat.”

William didn’t say anything, didn’t say ask why he was so mad, he just didn’t think anything of it. So instead, he let his eyes trailed back to the ground, where he zoned out for the next 3 hours. 

***Break***

Lieutenant Hawkeye came back to the office after noon, wanting to waste no time to get back and explain the situation with Havoc and William. They three of them stood in the office, while Falman, Breda, and Fuery were off to the side watching the whole thing unfold, eyeing their boss with concern. He had been drinking, drinking heavily since he learned the truth about his friend’s death (or so he thinks he does). He was leaning his back into the front of his desk, twirling a half filled glass of some alcohol in his hand, staring at William bitterly. 

Soon, his right hand woman became worried, and started to speak. “Sir-”

“What happened, Fullmetal? Care to explain?” Roy asked in a low tone.

William swallowed, fighting the urge to shift his stance under his superior’s intense gaze. “I… I messed up…” He croaked.

“Damn right you messed up. What were you thinking with that plan?” 

His eyes stung, as he bit the inside of his cheek. “I-I don’t know, I thought it would work…”

Roy’s eyes darkened. “You thought it would work? You thought running head fucking first was going to work?! Are you an idiot!?!?” He chucked his glass at the boy, which he caught before it hit his face.

William’s eyes widened. “Head first? What are you talking about?”

That statement seemed to make the older man angrier. “Seriously? Are you that stupid that you’ve forgotten what you’ve done?!”

“What are you talking about?”

“In the report, it said you ran head first into the warehouse, immediately tipping off the enemies, causing them to fire their weapons. So I’m going to ask you again, why in the world would you do that after you fucking promised me you wouldn’t?!”

The teen stared, tilting his head in confusion. “But… I never ran head first.”

Roy grits his teeth furiously. “LIES!!!” He smashes the bottle of alcohol on his desk out of anger, visibly scaring all his subordinates in the room.

The teenager paled, making Havoc step forward. “But boss, he’s telling the truth, he never ran head first into battle. That report is all wrong.”

“You’re lying…”

“I’m not, boss.”

“You’re lying…”

“Colonel, Havoc speaks the truth, Ed never ran head first into battle. It was a stealth mission, it’s written right in the report.” Hawkeye intervenes.

“YOU’RE LYING!!” Roy’s look sends shivers down their spines. “I’ve read the damn report many times already, and it tells me that Fullmetal ran head first into battle. So tell me the goddamn fucking truth!” 

“Sir-” Hawkeye begins, cowering.

“I want to hear it from **_him._** ” He points at the prodigy with disgust. “I want you to tell me that it was your fault for Hughes’ death.” He takes one dangerous step close.

William tensed up. “I-I…I didn’t do it. You have to believe me, Mustang!”

But the man didn’t listen, instead he took another step closer. “I..” Another step. “Want you..” Another step. “To tell me…” Another step. “THAT YOU KILLED MAJOR HUGHES!!!” 

Roy hand latches onto the boy’s collar, immediately setting off his fight-or-flight mode at the seemingly dangerous man. Suddenly, without even thinking, he screamed, ‘Don’t touch me!’, before doing the unthinkable…

Which was harming a superior officer.

William smashed the glass he held into Roy’s left cheek, the glass shattering upon contact and speed. Everyone in the room froze, including their boss who was standing still in shock. As the pieces of glass rolled off his cheek and into the carpet, everyone could finally see the damage that had been done. A large gash on his cheek that started near his eyelid and ended near his jawline; there were also tiny droplets of blood rolling out of the small cut inside his eyeball, making the charcoal colored eye start to fade.

After a few moments of silence, William was faced with another reality he caused. He too froze, his mouth opening with a silent gasp. 

“M-Mustang…?” He choked, his boss staying still. “M-Mustang… I-I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to! It was an accident! You scared me that’s all….”

Roy hissed, not taking the boy’s apology to heart as he swiped a piece of the broken bottle off his desk. And before anyone could react to his actions, he already managed to grab the boy by his collar again, sending the piece of glass straight into the boy’s left eye.   
William screamed, falling back on his behind, his hand covering his now bleeding socket as Roy retracted the piece of glass back to his side, staring down as the boy squirmed on the floor. His subordinates all stepped forward to help him,

“DON’T HELP HIM!!!” Roy screamed, scaring them straight. He took another step closer to the prodigy, as William looked back to find that his eyes held no sanity in them. “Hold him still…”

Havoc stared at him in shock. “B-boss…?”

“Hold him still, unless…” He drops the piece of glass, reaching his pocket to slide on his infamous pair of gloves. **“You want me to burn all of you too.”** The grown ups hesitated upon seeing the gloves, glancing at one another with fear. “That’s what I thought. Now, Hold him still.” 

“M-Mustang?” William choked again, looking around as his teammates started coming towards him. He looked between them all, feeling betrayed by them at this very moment. “Guys… Please no.. please..” He looked at the four males, ones that he thought as older brothers. “Breda? Falman? Come on, you can’t be serious?” They seemed unfazed, even if there was sorriness in their eyes. “Fuery… why are you looking at me like that? Havoc? Havoc come on, not you too.”

“Sorry, Bud…” Havoc whispers.

William starts crawling backwards, looking between them all over and over again. “Hawkeye, please… you know me, please.” He pleads to the woman that was like a mother to him, she had to understand, she just had to. So it definitely hurt him at her response.

“I’m sorry, Edward.” She replies, looking like she was about to cry.

“No. Please… Hawkeye… Mom…” He feels like he might cry himself, just as his back hit the door. 

**“Get him.”** Roy orders, flashing his gloves.

They lunged forward, but William had already opened the door and ran. He raced down the hallway, a hand still covering his eye as he made his way for the exit. The grown ups exited out of the office, watching the blonde disappear out of their sight.

“Shit…” Breda replies.

“Leave him.” Roy says, walking by them.

“Sir?” Falman asked, wondering where he was going.

“Stay here, and don’t think about leaving. I know where you live.”

Roy walked down the halls of Central HQ, practically burning the ground as he walked as his angry aura started to show, scaring some of the soldiers that walked by. He walked and walked until he got where he was going, a meeting room with some very special people behind the doors. He didn’t even knock, burning the manners and respect he had without any hesitation. 

There was a table filled with Generals, and at the head of it all was the Fuhrer himself. 

“Ah, Lieutenant Colonel, I didn’t know we’ve been expecting you.” King Bradly said, as Roy walked right up to him.

“I need a favor.” Was Roy’s reply. 

The General’s gasp at his mannerism, all of them standing up. “You can’t say that to the Fuhrer!” One said.

“Yeah! Show his excellency some respect!” Another says.

“Calm down, I heard the Colonel here has been experiencing a bad day.” Bradley replies, waving them off. “I heard what happened to Major Hughes, I’m terribly sorry to hear about his passing.”

“I need you to send the Fullmetal Alchemist to prison.” Roy says, ignoring the Fuhrer’s condolences.

“What? Why on Earth would I send him to prison?”

“He needs to pay for getting Maes Hughes killed.”

“Killed? Colonel, it was an accident, and accidents happen. I can’t just send him to prison just because a mission went wrong.”

Roy’s hands turned into fist for the second time today. “I don’t care, he needs to pay for getting him killed. He’s always causing trouble, always heading straight into battle without even thinking. He’s a menace to society. He needs to pay.”

There was silence, before Fuhrer Bradley laughed, standing up from his chair. “Oh wow, you really hate your subordinate today, don’t you?” He asked, facing him fully. “Listen, I still can’t send him to prison without a good reason. But I have to say, you have quite a lot of guts to come up and talk to me like this, and I admire that. You’d make a fine General yourself one day, Mustang.”

A shadow covered Roy’s eyes, people not seeing the murderous intent in them. Suddenly, the air seemed to get sucked out of the room as the Generals behind him started to choke, holding their throats. 

This caught Bradley off guard. “What the…?” He mutters.

“You’re right… I would make a fine General one day.” Roy replies, smirking. 

He snapped, lighting the Fuhrer on fire as the General’s lifeless bodies dropped to the floor without the help of oxygen. Bradley went up into smoke and ash, his skin and bones burning to a crisp. The immortal’s body was soon completely destroyed, and Roy watched as the philosopher’s stone hit the floor, disintegrating in an instant. 

The smirk never left his face, as he felt proud at what he’s done. “However, I think Fuhrer sounds better.” He finishes.

He heard the door open, and a sergeant arrived in shock. “Fuhrer… Bradley…?” He paled seeing the dead bodies and pile of ashes by the flame alchemist’s feet.

“Sergeant?” 

The boy gasps upon seeing Roy. “Lieu-Lieutenant Colonel?”

“I want you to make an announcement.”

“A-an announcement?”

“Yes. I want you to tell the whole country that _I’m_ the new Fuhrer.” His eyes narrowed, showing off his glove. “Unless that’s going to be a problem?”

The boy gulped. “N-no, sir. Y-Your excellency.”

Roy smiled. “Good. Now, another thing. I want you to also tell the city that the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elirc, Is now public enemy number one.”

“Y-yes, Sir… Fuhrer Mustang, Sir…”

**Break***

William ran like his life depended on it, which it does in a very wrong way. His friends/teammates he called family had turned against him, turned into monsters after their superior lost his way. 

_“Running head first? What is he talking about?”_

It was the million cens question that kept replying in the back of his head, over and over again on an endless, taunting loop. It was words that were going to unknowingly haunt him for the rest of his days.

After realizing no one was following him, he bolted into an alleyway, ducking behind a trash can to take a breather. “Damn it…” He said, wincing at the pain where his left eye used to be. He knew it wasn’t there anymore, he just knew it, but he was almost too afraid to look. 

He let out a small sigh just as his ears picked up on a radio that was on at the coffee shop next to him. The daily news was cut off by an important announcement that would sure put his whole world on hold.

_“Attention citizens of Amestris, due to some family problems, Fuhrer King Bradely had hereby stepped down from his duties as leader of this country.”_

William heard people gasp and mutter incoherent words at the shocking turn of events that was just the beginning of hell itself.

_“And Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang will be taking over the role of Fuhrer.”_

The teenager gasps, tensing up. And soon, his one and only eye widened in disbelief at the next and final announcement. 

_“And I hereby state that, Major Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist, is now public enemy number one. Major Elric if you’re listening to this, you are now a criminal to the Amestrian Military, and you will be brought to justice alive… or **dead.”**_

William felt like he might just throw up then and there, as he could only whisper two words, “Oh… fuck.”

***Break***   
**-1 year later-**

William scratched the itch just under his black eyepatch he wore. He had wrapped himself in blankets, trying to block out the cold fall weather that was egging him on. He was now a fugitive, a rebel some might call him, and how in the world does a rebel like him get a heater for his shitty ‘house’? He couldn’t, he didn’t want to attract outside attention. He couldn’t even turn the damn light on, he was forced to apply dingy candles as his only light source. 

He shouldn’t complain though, it was still better than nothing since his whole country was now an apocalyptic warzone. Sometimes he could hear gunshots and tanks roll around in the dead of night, scaring some other rebels he housed. Rebels were people willing to help him fight against the government, which, in reality, William never wanted to fight, he just wanted to stay clear and do his own thing. And what is that exactly? Well, let’s just say he’s trying to find a way to change the past. Which is why he’s sitting on the damaged wooden floor, with his research notes spread out all across the room.

He sighed, seeing his breath in the cold air when doing so. He then heard a soft knock, and someone coming in with a tray full of drinks. A petite woman with short lemon hair, and kind blue-gray eyes.

“Ed?” She said, upon seeing him. 

“Win.” He replies, smiling a bit when he saw the hot tea she made.

“I brought you something hot.” She walks carefully around the notes, handing him a mug with her cold, shaky hand.

“Thanks.” He wasted no time to bring the only sweet thing he’s had in a long time to his chapped lips, feeling a bit better at the warm liquid in his belly.

“Could be better. I’m still trying to work on the circle part of it all, I’m missing something though.” He replies, looking back down at the notes with slight pain in his eyes. 

Winry noticed, and settled a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You’ll figure it out, you always do. I believe in you, Ed.”

William smiles, placing his flesh hand on top of hers, staring right into her big eyes. “Thanks, Win. I can always count on you to cheer me up.”

She copies his expression as they shared a moment together before the door bursts open by a suit of armor. “Brother!” It yells.

“Al? What’s wrong?” William asked, catching his younger brother’s distress.

“It’s Kimblee, he’s back, and he’s brought someone with him.”

The older boy gasps, standing straight up with a bit of hope in his eye. “Who?”

Before Alphonse could say more, they could hear someone saying every curse word they knew. William, followed by Winry and Al, wasted no time to leave the room and head towards the hideout’s front entrance. From there they say a group of rebels, surrounding someone who was spewing nonsense.

“Kimblee.” William said, as an older man with long black hair and eyes faced him. His name was Solf J. Kimblee, and he too was an ex-military man like himself that was now working to stop the Fuhrer.

“Ed.” He replies, having his serious face on like always.

“What’s wrong? Who’d you bring back?”

“Well, we came across someone who liked to speak with you personally. Apparently he knows something about that dreadful night a year ago.”

The blonde froze. “What? Who.” 

Kimblee said nothing, and instead he slipped by the other rebels and grabbed their ‘guest’ by the collar, dragging him in front of the boy. William’s eye widened at who it was,

Lieutenant General Raven.

“Lieutenant General?” He said, surprised.

“He practically came running towards us, asking us to take him to see you.” Kimblee replies, watching the General squirm.

“Why? Are you sure this isn’t a trap?” 

“It’s not…” It was Raven who replied so weakly. 

“It’s not?” William asked him.

He shook his head. “N-no. I swear it isn’t. I only want to talk to you, that's it.”

William narrowed his eye, crossing his arms. “Talk about what? Do you want me to surrender or something?”

Raven shook his head again. “No. Not that.”

“Then what is it?”

Raven’s face flashed guilty so quickly it practically scared everyone in the room. He held his head low. “I have a confession to make… I… I killed Maes Hughes…”

It was like all the air was sucked out of the room this very moment at those words. William’s memories of that night came back in full force. “What?” He said.

“I gave Colonel Mustang the mission.” Raven replies, still not looking up.

What was he saying? He assigned his superior officer the fatal mission? “You did what?”

“I hated Mustang, I always did. I mean…” He finally looks up. “After the ishvalan war, he was praised as a hero, praised almost like a god. And then, he was the youngest ever to be promoted to Lieu. Colonel, that’s what everyone ended up talking about! There were even people talking about giving a promotion to become a General! So when I heard about the drug dealers being back, the ones that Mustang dealt with, I knew this was my chance, a chance to finally get rid of him.”

William stared in disbelief, having a strong feeling what might be coming next. “So… I’m assuming your plan didn’t work, seeing that Mustang never went on the mission.” He asks.

“Yes. You’re correct. When I heard that it was only you and not Mustang, I thought maybe I could finally get rid of you too, the Infamous prodigy alchemist that people couldn’t stop talking about as well. However, when I arrived at the scene and I found out Major Hughes died, I wanted to use that against you. I told Mustang it was your fault, I told him that you ran head first into battle and that got him killed.”

The rebels gasped, and William’s heart officially sank to his knees. “Y-you told him that?” the teen stuttered.

Raven looked like he was about to cry out of fear and guilt. “I did. I thought he would honestly just discharge you, I thought he would strip you away from your title, I didn’t think he would lose himself in anger and kill the Fuhrer. I didn’t think he would become such a dictator.” He bent down, bowing at the seventeen year old’s feet for forgiveness. “Please, He’s taken everything from me, he’s taken my wife from me. Please, please forgive me, you have to stop that animal of a man. Please, forgive me!”

And then pure silence, nobody knew what to say about the General's confession. Instead, William’s lip quivered bitterly, as he spoke in a harsh tone. “So… you toyed with his emotions? A distraught man… and you decided it was okay to twist with his emotions?” 

Raven looked up. “M-Major?”

“You twisted with his emotions and you thought it was okay!?!” He grabbed the man by his shirt, pulling him close. “You thought it was okay!? What the fuck’s wrong with you!?!?!”

“Ed!” Winry said, grabbing his arm.

“Brother!” Al replies, grabbing his other arm.

“Edward, you have to let go. Calm down.” Kimblee says, trying to pull Raven away from the angry blonde. 

After several attempts they finally managed to pry his hands off his shirt. “God damn you…” William cursed, as Winry and Al held him back.

“I’m sorry! I’ll do anything! What will make you forgive me?” Raven pleads loudly.

“There’s nothing that you can do that will make me forgive you!”

“There has to be something! Isn’t there anything that you want?”

William immediately relaxed at his response. “Anything?”

Raven nods. “Yes, anything. Just tell me what you want.”

At that very moment, the rebel leader’s mind was made up. “The Philosopher's stone.”

He looked surprised. “What?”

“The Philosopher's stone. Knowing you higher ups, you probably know where I could get one. So tell me where I could find one.”

“Hold on, kid. What do you need with the stone?” Kimblee asked, curiously.

“I’ll tell you later.” William replies, before facing Raven again. “So? Where is it?”

Raven knew exactly where one was, and wasted no time telling him the truth. “Dr. Tim Marcoh’s house. I know it’s abandoned, but the last time I heard that his research is still there. That, or you can check out the fifth laboratory in Central.”

“Central’s too far, but Dr. Marcoh’s house is only about an hour away in walking distance.” William’s face flashed determination. “I’m heading there. Kimblee, you and the other rebels stay here until I get back.”

“Hang on second.” Kimblee said, confused.

“Ed, you should take someone with you.” Winry replies, cautiously. 

“Yeah, Brother. I should come with you.” Al says, worried.

William shook his head. “No, I’m not taking you with me.”

“Brother, please. I haven’t left the base in months, you need some back up.”

“Al-”

“Brother, please.”

“Edward, Just take Alphonse. Please.” Winry begs.

As much as he didn’t want too, her pleading eyes got to him. He sighs. “Fine. Stay low, you know the rules.” William replies.

“Thank you.” Al replies.

William looks at all of them. “Stay here, and be on the lookout for the military. I promise I’ll explain everything when I get back.” 

The rebels nodded. “Careful, Kid.” Kimblee warned.

“Come back safe, you guys.” Winry says, waving goodbye.

“We will.” Was all he said.

***Break***

After taking some detours, they finally arrived in the abandoned and worn down town where the Crystal Alchemist used to live. Alphonse kicked the door down as they stepped inside, nervousness coating them like a disease. 

“Let’s make this quick. We can’t be seen by the military or it’s game over.” William said.

Al nods. “Right.”

The brothers begin tearing the place apart, which wasn’t that big to begin with, but still. The ripped out drawers and floorboards for secret compartments, but found nothing; Until the suit of amour popped opened the air vent. Wrapped in a dirty cloth and inside a jar was a liquefied version of a philosopher’s stone. 

Al gasp happily. “Brother, I found it!” 

“You did?” William asked, coming up next to him.

“Yep. It's a liquid base, but it might still work.” He grabs it and takes a look. “Yeah, it’s definitely the sto-”

“Be quiet.”

“What?”

“Be quiet, and listen. Do you hear that?” 

The youngest silence himself, listening. There was a faint creaking sound that was familiar, something that he thought he wouldn’t experience first hand. “Is that…?”

“Shit! It’s the gas line!!” William cursed, urgently grabbing his brother by his arm. “Come on, this place is going to blow!”

“Wha.. brother!” The tiny jar slipped right out of his large hand when his older brother jerked him to stand. Soon, the two Elrics ran right out of the house, getting as far away as they could, but Alphonse pulled back.

“Al!?” The eldest said, whipping his body around.

“I left the stone back in there!” Al replies, quickly. Taking a step to leave, but his arm was captured again.

“No, Al! That house is about to blow!”

“No! I can make it! Hold on!” Al wiggled out of his grasp, running straight for the house.

“Alphonse! Alphonse, wait!” But he was already inside. “Al!!” He cried, and started taking off for the house-

An explosion sent him flying back, landing so hard that it made his world spin and ears ring. The house went up into flames and smoke, glass and wood chips flew into the air and rain down on the boy. William laid there in pain, but he forced himself to get up and take a look. He sat on his bottom, his hands propping him up as his one eye danced with the flames that just took his brother right before his very eye.

“ALPHONSE!!!!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I killed Hughes and Alphonse. Don't sue me please.


	9. My Mind Of Stone; Tear Me To Pieces (William Elric's Origin Story Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I don’t want to be a soldier, I don’t want to be Fullmetal, I don’t want to be a rebel Leader, and I’m not sure if I want to be an alchemist after all this. I just want to be… Edward Elric._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heavy Edwin Angst coming up, so beware.

**-4 years later-**  
Dark. Why is it that his dreams have to be so dark? Couldn’t he have at least one decent dream? Was that too much to ask?

**“Ed…”**

“S-stop…” William muttered in his sleep. Not again. It was always the same dream over and over again. The dream where he smelled blood, a dream where it was smeared all over him. It was his fault. He didn’t care what that General said, it was still his fault.

**“G-go get your bodies back, y-you and Al, don’t l-let my death hold y-you back..”**

“Lies. Lies. I can’t even do it anymore… I can’t even do it anymore.” Those words. Why did they have to keep haunting him? Why did they have to keep reminding him of his failures?

**“I..”**

“No…” His fist was clenched tightly.

**“Want you..”**

“Stop…” His teeth were snapped together bitterly.

**“To tell me…”**

“Please…” The alcohol flushed skin.

**“THAT YOU KILLED MAJOR HUGHES!!!”**

“I’m sorry!!!” The red he saw his coal eyes were scary. The bloodlust and total shock when he accidently smashed his cup into his face, cutting his cheek and eye like they were paper. 

**“DON’T HELP HIM!!!”**

He was right, he shouldn’t be helped. He deserved to be laying on the ground with a bloody eye socket. It was his fault. His fault and nobody else. Wait… was someone calling for him?

**“Sorry, Bud…”**

**“I’m sorry, Edward.”**

Hawkeye and Havoc, they looked so sad, yet… he deserved it. He deserved to feel betrayal, even when it hurt so much. 

_“Ed.”_

He swore he could hear his name being called in a gentle tone. Gentle tone. Why would he deserve to be talked to in a gentle tone? He was a murderer, a killer. He didn’t deserve such kindness.

**“And I hereby state that, Major Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist, is now public enemy number one. Major Elric if you’re listening to this, you are now a criminal to the Amestrian Military, and you will be brought to justice alive… or dead.”**

Dead. Maybe if I wound up dead in the battle destroyed country this will all be better. Could he even fix this mess after so many years? 

_“Ed.”_

God. Stop talking. I don’t deserve your kindness. Stop talking, please.

**“I have a confession to make… I… I killed Maes Hughes…”**

“No. I did.” He did. It was his fault his friend was six feet underground. 

**“I did. I thought he would honestly just discharge you, I thought he would strip you away from your title, I didn’t think he would lose himself in anger and kill the Fuhrer. I didn’t think he would become such a dictator.”**

“My fault, my fault, my fault, my fault….”

_“Ed! Edward!”_

Stop. Stop talking.

**“I left the stone back in there!”**

The stone could have waited, the stone could have waited. Why did you go in? Why did I let you come with me? Why did I let you come with me?

_“Ed, wake up!”_

**“No! I can make it! Hold on!”**

He could still feel the fire licking at his skin, as he waited for it to die down to find the shattered armor with no blood seal. No blood seal, No life. “Why in the world did I let you come with me? This is all my fault, this all my fault. Everything’s my fault… why was I even born?!”

_“EDWARD, WAKE UP!!!!”_

His body jolted awake, his eye shooting open, the ragged blanket sliding off his sweaty skin. He wanted to scream, but his throat felt itchy and dry like he had already been doing it. Has he? He looked around the room, looking for anything familiar, which it all was. The busted up room, with busted up furniture, with busted up walls and floors, a place he called home. He swallowed hard, feeling a wave of panic coming over, before he started to scream with his teared up throat.

Two arms wrapped around him from behind, feeling someone press against him close. “Ed, calm down! It’s okay!” The voice of Winry said, softly. 

His scream alerted someone to rush through the door, a much older version of Doctor Knox. “What’s with the screaming? Is someone hurt?!” He yelled, on high alert.

Winry shook her head, not daring to budge from her hold on the blonde boy. “No. It’s just a nightmare, Doc.” 

He looked at her before looking at the leader of the group, taking a small step forward with sympathy. “Look, I can give him some sedatives-”

“No. For once, let me try to calm him without it.”

“But miss Rockbell-”

“Go. Let me handle it.”

“But-”

“Go.” She glared at him, pointing at the door. She was not going to let them keep drugging William like that. Knox was hesitant, but knew well enough not to push it with her, so he left. Once the door was closed, Winry started rubbing his arm gently, calming him down. “Ed… don’t cry. It was just a nightmare.” 

William’s throat felt raw as his screaming began to cease just as her touch was starting to register with him. “Win-Winry…” He croaked, feeling salty tears run down his cheek. 

“Ed...it’s okay, you’re safe.” She whispered, softly against his bare shoulder.

He sobbed. “D-did I wake you? Sorry…”

“Ed, how many times do I have to say this? You don’t have to apologize. I don’t mind.”

“You don’t?” 

“No.”

“Okay.” He pauses to wipe his cheek clean. “Did Knox give me something?” 

“No. I told him not to. I just don’t want him to keep drugging you like that.” She hugs him a little tighter, making him feel safe.

He let out a weak laugh, shifting on the bed to face her. “I’m glad… maybe I’ll get better…” He said, sadly.

She frowns, looking at him with pity. “Ed…” She begins, reaching up to cup his cheek next to his right eye. “Ed, I swear you’re getting better. Don’t believe you haven’t.” 

He leans into her touch. “Winry…” His gold eye trailed from her grayish ones to her stomach, thinking. “Win, I’ve been thinking about-”

For the second time tonight, the door busted wide open, startling the two lovebirds. “Sir. I know I should have knocked, but we have a problem!” The rebel replies.

“What kind of problem?” William asked, bitterly. He couldn’t even spare one moment with her sometimes.

“Sir, It’s the military, they’ve been spotted heading this way.”

Both the blonde twenty year olds tensed up. “WHAT?!” They yelled, and they both wasted no time jumping out of bed, not caring if they had their night clothes on (or that he was shirtless). They follow the rebel out into the open room of their now-not-so-secret base of operations. From there, hundreds of rebels ran around like crazy, grabbing their weapons and setting up to fight the men in blue.

“Shit…” William whispered, realizing how serious this was.

“Ed.” Kimblee said, running over. “It’s over. They found us, and they have way too many reinforcements to count.” 

“Fuck!!” He ran his hand through his hair. “Do we have time to move?”

“I’m afraid not, they’re coming on all sides.”

“Damn it…” He sighs, a dreadful feeling coming over him. “Is the Fuhrer’s with them?”

“I don’t know, he might be. We’re toast if that’s the case.” 

William let out another sigh, gripping his hair as he tried to think of a plan. Kimblee sat back and watched, deciding that now was the time to tell him.

“Ed, I think it’s time for you to move forward with your plan.” He replies, slowly. William’s eye widened in shock as he opened his mouth to speak, “Before you say ‘No’, hear me out. I know you said it’s not ready, but I don’t think you have a choice. Ed, there’s nowhere to run anymore, time is up. You have to activate that circle, and you have to do it _now.”_

William’s jaw clenched, his heart pounding in his ears. He knew he was right, it was time. It was time for him to change the past. “If that's what you think, then I guess I have to.” He replies, hearing Winry gasp next to him. 

Kimblee nods. “I’m sorry you have to do it.”

“Don’t be. I’ve been holding it off for too long. It’s time.”

Kimblee nods again, standing straighter and snapping his hand up for a salute. “Whatever happens, I want you to know that it was an honor serving next to you.” 

“You too, Kimblee. You’re a good man.” William replies, saluting as well.

The older man placed a hand on his shoulder, looking him in the eye. “Fix this. Even if it doesn’t go as planned, you need to fix this. Save Major Hughes, and you can save this country. Go, Edward.”

“Thank you, Kimblee.”

“Don’t mention it. We’ll try to hold them off as much as we can.”

Once the rebels started yelling that they were close, Kimblee bolted off to join the others. William ran the other way, with Winry close behind as they headed back to their room. The door was slammed shut and locked, and William wasted no time trying to move the furniture to have a wide open space on the floor. 

“Ed…” Winry said, standing back. 

“I know and I’m sorry, Win. But I have to do this.” He replies, before pulling out a box from under the bed, dusting the cotton webs off. He opened it to find his old and ruined military uniform, which he quickly started getting dressed up in. 

“Why are you wearing all your old clothes?” She asked, watching him make the clothes bigger with alchemy so they could fit.

“It’s for recognition. It’s like when you're using blood in human transmutation for soul data, but since I’m going to be traveling through time, I need to wear the clothes I wore the night Hughes got killed, so I can be sent back to the _exact_ same time.” 

He slid on all his clothes, except for one. His old red coat. Well, it was more like a cloak now since the sleeves were in shambles. He held it in front of him, frowning at all the bad memories it came with it.

“You should wear it.” Winry replies, making him face her. She held a bit of pity in her eyes, but there was also some joy in them too. “I know you didn’t wear it on that night, but that coat, you wore it when doing great things.” She comes over to take it out of his hands, getting on her tiptoes to wrap it around his shoulders, tying what's left of the sleeves together in the front, securing it. “Think of it as a good luck charm, or that this is what made you _Edward Elric.”_

He lets out a sad chuckle. “You always know what to say.” He whispers, swallowing heavily as he couldn’t dare to look at her or his heart might just break. 

He turns away, picking up his journal and a piece of chalk from the box, moving to the center of the room. He flipped opened the pages, getting the picture as he dropped to his knees and began drawing the transmutation circle he’s created.This was it, there was no backing out now. However, there was one thing that kept weighing in, and William thinks it might be the reason he kept himself from going through the plan all those years back; And it was all because of _her._

He felt her approaching and stood up, and there she was in just in a tank top and shorts, holding a tiny bag that held the Philosopher's stone. She was smiling sadly, her eyes held all kinds of emotions that just weren’t helping the way he feels about all this. He takes a few steps towards her, away from the circle as he took the bag from her, wearing a similar frown like hers. William couldn’t meet her gaze, and instead he brushed his hand over hers before bringing it up to his lips, kissing her knuckles softly.

“Ed…” She croaks, feeling tears in her eyes.

“I’m going to fix this…” He whispers, finally looking up at her. “I have to.”

“I know. I know you have to, Ed.” She takes a shaky breath. “It’s just… It’s just.. Um…”

“I know. I know you want this, I want it too, but…” He brings his automail hand up to her stomach, laying it flat as he stared at it like he did earlier. “This is not a place to raise a child… we both know that.”

The tears came, as her lip quivered slightly. “I know, I know… it’s just so hard…”

“I know, and I’m sorry.” It was his turn to take a shaky breath. “Winry,” He moves his hand away, placing it at the nape of her neck before leaning down to let their foreheads touch. On contact, their eyes closed. “I’m going to fix this, and when I do, me and Al are going to get our bodies back. When we do, I’m going to ask you to marry me.”

She gasps quietly, her eyes shooting up in surprise. “Ed?”

“I want to marry you, Winry.” His teary eye opened with a soft gaze. “I want to be with you, I want to have a family with you, and I want to raise them in Resembool just like you wanted. I want to fix this so we can do it.” A single tear rolls down his face. “I love you, Winry. I want you to be my wife so badly.”

“Ed… That sounds amazing.” She whispers, sobbing quietly.

“Win, I don’t know if you’ll remember any of this when I travel back in time.” He chuckles, leaning into her warm forehead some more. “I guess I’m going to win you all over again.”

“Ed, there’s no need to.” He looked surprised. “I always loved you, even way back then. I was always hoping that I could be your wife, I was always hoping that I could be the mother of your children. Even if I don’t remember, my love for you will still be there.”

Those words made the both of them cry harder, as William leaned down and captured her soft lips with his. Both of them poured all the emotions they were feeling into the kiss, savoring it in case this was their last. Once they broke away, they leaned against each other’s foreheads again.

Winry cupped his cheek. “Fix this. I know you can do it, Edward.” She whispers, softly. 

He nods. “Stay back when I activate it, okay?” 

“Okay…”

She pulls away slowly, making William feel so empty and cold without her. She was all that he had left, his friends were broken and betrayed, Hughes was dead, and so was his little brother Alphonse. So to pull away and possibly say goodbye for the very last time broke his glass heart in a million pieces. He needed to fix this, he needed for this plan to work because he couldn't bear to leave Winry and his unborn in a world like this. He _needs_ to fix this. If it wasn’t for Hughes, If it wasn’t for his friends or family, or even this country, he needed to fix this for her.

William looked away once he saw her stand in a way back corner of the room, keeping his eye on the task on hand because if he even spared her the smallest of glances, he wasn’t sure he’d go through with it. He takes careful steps to the center of the circle, trying not to destroy the chalk. He soon untied the strings on the bag, letting the solid piece of the Philosopher’s stone roll into his hand. 

He stared, realizing that this stone was made of people of this country, but he couldn’t let guilt get in his way now (He’ll just have to pay for his sins later).

_“I have to fix this. I need to save Hughes, I need to save Roy and Riza, and all the others. I have to save Al, I have to save this country. Better yet, I need to do this for a selfish reason….”_

He tossed the stone into the air, and right as it started to come down, he caught it between his palm, igniting the circle. The twenty year old was engulfed in red light, followed by white and blue. He could feel the room shaking, just as a black and white void appeared beneath his feet. He started getting pulled into it, just like he thought he would be since he was ripping through time.

_“I want to do this. I want to finish what me and Al started, I want to finish my job at the Military with a high note. I want to leave it all behind, knowing that my friends are fine.”_

The void was now at his chest, and William let his eye closed, leaving him with his thoughts.

_“I want Winry, I want a family. I want Al to be an uncle, I want my kids to meet my found family at the military. I don’t want to be a soldier, I don’t want to be Fullmetal, I don’t want to be a rebel Leader, and I’m not sure if I want to be an alchemist after all this. I just want to be… Edward Elric.”_

He finally opened his eye, seeing that he was falling down the void, seeing that there was a brighter light at the bottom. This was it, the moment he’s been preparing for. It was time for him to finish his mission.

_“I’m coming, Hughes. Just wait for me.”_

And his body passed through the light.

***Break***

**-Present Time-**

A quiet sigh passed through William’s lips as he pulled the chair closer to the Lieutenant. The uncomfortable feeling was spread across her sleeping face, making the guilt come back.

“She really does look like my Hawkeye.” He thought, lip quivering, feeling his eye sting with tears again. 

“It’s all my fault you’re like this…” He whispers, before reaching with his flesh hand to take hers. “I’m sorry.” He raises her hand to his forehead, closing his eye and letting the tears fall again. “I’m sorry… the both of _you._ I’m sorry. I’m sorry….I’m so sorry, Lieutenant…” 

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but before he knew it, he felt her hand squeeze his. He quietly gasps, his eye opening to meet her tired brown ones. She was giving him a warm smile.

“Lieu-Lieutenant. I’m sorry,... I-I woke you up, I” He stuttered, panic was all over his face.

“Ed. It’s okay.” Hawkeye says, quietly. 

His panic dimmed down to surprise. “Y-you called me Ed.”

Her smile seemed to grow a bit more. “Well that’s your name, isn’t?” 

“B-but I told you to call me-”

“You’re still Edward. You’ll always be.” She brings a shaky hand to touch his waterlogged cheek, earning another small gasp from him. “You poor boy, you’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

“I.. Why are you so nice to me? I messed up… I cause all this.” He held his head low.

“You were a kid when this all happened, right? Kids make mistakes just like an adult would. If it was me, I would have forgiven you a long time ago.”

William choked back a sobbed, holding her hand a bit tighter. Those were the words he needed to hear after all this time. “Thank you…” He says, as her loving expression never changed. “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you…”

He repeated and repeated, and cried and cried, missing as the original watchman stopped to eavesdrop from out in the hallway. With a cup of coffee in his hands that seemed to shake after hearing their conversation, Colonel Roy Mustang turned on his heels and headed upstairs with a guilty expression.

***Break***

The sun shined high and bright here in Rush Valley, even in the middle of fall it stayed overly hot. Winry stretched her arms, before sitting in the stool in her teacher’s workshop, fixing a broken automail limb. She hummed to herself, letting the rest of the world disappear around her, occasionally tuning in when she heard her teacher talk. 

“-You know Miss Rockbell? Are you sure?” Garfiel asked, suspicious of the other person.

“I’m telling you I do. Will you please go get her.” She perked up at the voice. She swears she knows it from somewhere.

“I’m telling you no.”

“I’m telling you to go get her, please.”

Winry shifted in her chair coming to a realization. “Colonel Mustang?” She mumbled, getting up and walking to the front of the shop.

“I’m telling you no, and that’s final!” Garfiel replies.

“Sir, Please. It’s important.” Roy said, looking like his head was about to spin.

Winry picked up the pace after seeing it was really him. “Colonel Mustang?” She called out when close enough.

A flash of relief crossed the flame alchemist’s face. “Oh, Miss Rockbell. I’ve been looking for you.”

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. “You have?”

“So you do know this man?” Garfiel asked, cautiously.

“I do. So you don’t have to worry, I’ll take it from here.”

“Okay. Just holler if you need anything.”

He soon left, making Roy let out a heavy sigh. Winry faced him and immediately her eyes went big.

“Colonel Mustang, what happened to your eye?” She asked, concerned.

“Oh this?” He begins, gestring to the white bandage over his left eye. “It was from a fight, which is kind of why I’m here. I need your help.”

“My help? With what?”

“The Elric brothers. They went on a mission, and returned back to their home. However, they never arrived at work the next day so I went over to their apartment and found it in disarray. My team and I have been trying to figure out what happened to them, but we hit a roadblock.”

Winry gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth in shock.“That’s terrible! So Ed and Al are missing?”

Roy nods sadly. “I’m afraid so.”

“Okay, I can understand that now, but why come to tell me this in person?” She tilts her head slightly. “And I’m still a little confused on what you need help with?”

“Cause you know the Elric brothers better than anybody, so I need your help to find out what happened to them. So please, Miss Rockbell. Why don’t you come back to Central with me?”

And he grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm terrible. I can't even leave (both) Winry('s) alone.


	10. Run Boy Run, Run From Your Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy’s eyes twitched. “What?” He gritted through his teeth. 
> 
> **“I mean… why not start now? Why not keep your research somewhere better, somewhere safer? You have that young prodigy of yours? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind helping you out.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me so long, I started on some other stories and got sucked into it.

How could life be so cruel?

That was Roy’s very first thought on life when he was young. How could life be so cruel? To strip away his parents right before his eyes because his mother was a Xingnese immigrant, and his father, who was deemed rich in the extremely small town he was born in, married a woman who had no money, a woman who was deemed an ‘embarrassment’, and had to pay the price for it as well?

How could life be so cruel? Because he looked so different than anybody else, because his mother’s genes ran strong in him, that he deem to be a spawn of satan and deserved to be bullied? 

How could life be so cruel? That even after moving to the main city with his aunt, that he had to be homeschooled because no one could leave him alone?

How could life be so cruel? That his dream to get married and start a family was striped away because his thoughts were plagued by depression, and people told him he was useless and wasn’t worthy? 

How could life be so cruel? That he couldn’t even listen to his aunt that the military wasn’t the answer to his problems, that learning to use alchemy wasn’t going to change who he is deep inside?

How could life be so cruel? That he was pulled into using destructive alchemy, something that he thought was used for good, was turned into a weapon to kill people that didn’t look like him? People that were outsiders just like him?

How could life be so cruel? That a father tattooed his own daughter’s back, and he had to be the one to disface it? To disface it with the alchemy that he tore so many children away from their parents like his own life? To hurt his very first friend that didn’t treat him like an outsider? 

How could life be so cruel? That it changed something inside him?

But after all that, after all that pain and death, he needed to change. 

He wanted to protect the woman he loved, he wanted to protect the best friend that he made in war, he wanted to protect his family, his men, the people he worked with. That change was good, but it was also bad in some cases. Like how could he sit there and use his men to move up in rank? How could he sit there and be okay with a kid that wasn’t even eighteen yet, and allow him to be used to become Fuhrer? Had he learned nothing at all? 

He would protect them, but there were times he couldn’t. He would use his _alchemy_ to protect them, but it was still seen as evil in his eyes. How would he be able to look, nevertheless to hold a child, to hold _his_ child with hands that were so _sinful_ that it was practically tattooed on them? If he was lucky enough to have one, how could he hold them with such sinful hands?

How could he look at his men in the eye for failing them? How could he look at his right hand woman in the eye after failing to use flame alchemy for good? How could he look his best friend in the eye after he let himself become a monster? How could he look at his youngest subordinate in the eye after doing the unthinkable?

Those thoughts lingered in his mind constantly, and he made a promise to himself that he’ll get better and better. Except, that all went out the window when Edward’s doppelganger showed up and spoiled everything.

**The blood king.**

A title he thought he wouldn’t have, a title that was worse than being called the ‘Hero of Ishval’. 

It was him. He became Fuhrer, something that he always dreamed of becoming, but never thought becoming a demon was how he made it to the top. He wanted to do it the right way, the smart way. He wanted to make it to the top by playing life like a game of chess, which he thought was going great, but apparently not.

Hughes was dead in a different world, and he blamed a child for it. A _child._ And not just any child, a child he knew, a child he recruited, a child he made sure was safe and secured, a child he would admit was like a son he longed for. 

He blamed Fullmetal, He blamed Edward for something that was out of the boy’s control, and took his eye out for it. 

Now, Roy knows it’s not actually _him,_ but how could he not blame himself when his doppleganger was a spitting image of him? 

So that’s why he’s here. He was currently sitting on the ground by the lake on the Armstrong astate, a cup of coffee by his side, pushing his bangs back and looking at his reflection. The only time he ever slicked his hair back was for important events and occasional funerals for soldiers he knew, he thought about wearing it like this more as he moved up to look more professional; But now he’s not so sure anymore. That look was ruined by his look alike, followed by ruining the uniform he’s yearned to wear since he was eighteen.

How could he sit there and expect to become Fuhrer after witnessing what evil he’s done and has become? How could his dream all of a sudden be crushed?

He sighs, closing his eyes. 

Maybe this is what he deserves after everything he’s done, from killing people in Ishval to using his own men for his selfish needs.

He sighs heavily again. “Maybe I should have listened to my aunt…” He mumbled.

**“Are you sure about that, Roy?”**

Roy’s dark eyes shot opened as he jolted around to face the familiar voice, spilling his half filled glass on the ground. He was met with a very pale man with long, stringy brown hair and dull green eyes; This made Roy’s surprised expression fade, and his eyes narrowed to give this man a glare. 

“Great, I’m either having the worst nightmare ever, or I’m having a major PTSD episode.” He replies, bitterly.

The man smiled smugly while shrugging. **“Or I could be real, you never know.”**

Roy scoffed. “You’re not real, you’re dead. I know this because you died in my arms.” He stands up, not taking his eyes off him. “So tell me, _Master,_ what brings you here to haunt me?” 

His words sounded like venom when he mentioned the man’s title, making sure it had every ounce of his hate in that single word.

**“That is true. But uh.. Do you have to give me that cold glare of yours?”** The man asked, ignoring the last question, making Roy’s blood boil.

“Did you seriously just ask me to stop? After everything you’ve done? Oh please, if I could do more than just glare at you, I would.” Roy replies, crossing his arms.

The man looked a bit hurt by those words, but ended up brushing them off with another shrug. **“Frankly, I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Roy.”**

“Are you fucking kidding me? You know damn well what you’ve done. I swear, I used to worship the ground you were on when I was your student, I grieved when you died, but that all changed when _your own_ daughter told me what you’ve done to her!” He points at him furiously. “How could you have even thought of doing that?!”

**“But Roy, I needed to hide my research, and the last thing people will ever suspect is that it’ll be tattooed on a young girl’s back. You would have done the same thing, wouldn’t you?”**

Roy made fists at his side, his nails digging into his skin. “I write my research in a book, coded to look like a diary of some sort. For fuck sakes, every alchemists writes their research in a book and codes it so they can only read it. It’s common fucking sense! If I had my own daughter I wouldn’t even fucking dare touch her in any of the ways you did to Riza.”

Berthold shrugged again. **“Fair enough. But what if you had a son? There’s nothing too appropriate about tattooing the same gender’s back.”**

Roy’s eyes twitched. “What?” He gritted through his teeth. 

**“I mean… why not start now? Why not keep your research somewhere better, somewhere safer? You have that young prodigy of yours? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind helping you out.”**

Roy reached out and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him forward. “Say that again, I dare you.” He hissed. 

**“Oh my, so overprotective. Protecting that boy isn’t going to do you any good, you know? He’s in the military, he should fend for himself.”**

“That may be true, but I gladly give up my life if it means he gets to live. That boy’s been through too much already.”

**“Too much already? Too much already?”** He chuckled. **“You seemed to not mind when you made an equivalent exchange deal with him.”**

Roy looked a bit confused, but he still kept his firm grip on the man’s collar. “What do you mean?” 

**“You two made a deal with one another, and your end of the bargain was that the boy would help you in your career. So don’t you see? You’ve already put him in danger by doing so, you’re letting him run around, doing your work as you sit safely behind a desk all day. You’ve already caused him pain, I mean how many times has he gotten hurt since he’s been here?”**

Roy stopped for a moment, looking down to think. “I… a lot…” He stuttered in realization. 

**“Exactly. So what if he helps you hide your research? I mean you’ve already caused him so much pain, why not a little bit more? It won’t hurt too.”** Berthold chuckled. **“Tell me Roy, does he know you’re using him to move up in rank? Knowing you, once you’ve become Fuhrer, you won’t be needing him anymore, so you might as well give him the flame alchemy secrets to hide, and then send him on his way.”**

The anger returned to the Colonel as he gripped the collar with both hands now, looking him dead in the eyes. “I may have caused the boy some pain, but I still have to help Ed out with our equivalent exchange! I will not just discard him after everything we’ve been through!” He yells, desperately wanting to wipe the smirk off his master’s face.

Berthold opened his mouth to speak, but his student cut him off. “Don’t you dare mention flame alchemy again! I made a promise to your daughter that there will be no more flame alchemists! I’M THE LAST ONE!!” 

His master broke out into a fit of laughter, a crazy look showed up in his eyes soon after. **“The last one? You can’t be serious. My research isn’t like an animal you can hunt to extinction, there will always be traces of it throughout history.”**

Roy growled through his teeth. “I don’t understand, what are you implying?” 

**“Think about it, you really think flame alchemy is going to just disappear? No. You’ve made your mark on history, Roy. Everyone’s going to be talking about you for centuries to come. I mean who wouldn’t want to wield fire like the infamous Flame Alchemist Roy Mustang? You know someone down the line is going to try to be like you.”**

Roy starts shaking his head. “S-Stop…”

**“What about Ed? He’s a prodigy, don’t you think it’s crossed his mind at least once to try to do flame alchemy? You really think that child’s curiosity wouldn’t get the best of him?”**

“Stop…”

**“And what if he has kids? What if they become alchemists and they want to idolize and become like the future Fuhrer of Amestris?”**

“Stop.”

**“And what if you have kids? What are they going to do? Are you going to try to stop them from becoming like you? Are you?”**

“Stop it. Stop it.”

**“You don’t have to be the last one. Don’t make it harder for you to stop flame alchemy in the future, you should let the next few generations deal with it. It’ll be one hell of a generation.”**

“Berthold… shut up.” He gripped the collar even tighter, his knuckles turning white.

He smiled. **“You can change that Roy, all you have to do is keep it alive. All you have to do is… re-tattoo the research, and you can start by doing that on that prodigy of yours…”**

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!” Roy threw his fist at the man, only to have it collide onto a base of the tree, blood spewing out of the newly made cuts on his hand. He stared in shock that his master was there, and it was now only just a tree. He panted hard, while the stinging sensation in his hand started to kick in. 

He brought his hand close to his chest, cradling it as he continued to stare at the tree in surprise. “Maybe I really was having an episode….”

**“Were you?”**

His eyes widened again, as he turned to face another person, only this time it wasn’t his master, it was him, or his doppelganger that is. Roy’s chest felt tight as his breath got caught in his throat, as he was staring face-to-face with a monster version of himself. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but the silvery blade of his look alike’s sword was pierced through his stomach, making him cough up blood. The one black and one gray eye of the Fuhrer had joy in them, as his lips curled into a smile.

**“We’re the same, you know? I hope you realized that by now.”** He laughed. **“Now wake up.”**

Roy gasps, bolting up in a sitting position on the grass. Once again he looked around, finding his spilled coffee now soaked up by the dirt in the early morning of fall. As he panting started to cease, he came to a conclusion that he had fallen asleep outside. He sighed in relief, sitting up a bit more when he felt a horrible pain in his hand.

He hissed, and examined his left, finding that his knuckles were busted open with dry patches of blood. He stared at it for a moment, taking it in before he closed his eyes and sighed again. 

“So I guess it really was both an episode and a dream…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Roy, I can't give anyone a break in this story.


	11. I'll Make One Suffer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winry’s anger suddenly vanishes at his words, slightly blushing in confusion as she quietly asks, “Ch-Child?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, but I just wanted to show everyone where and why Evil Roy needed Winry for. The next chapter will be about team Mustang and Hughes.

The first thing Winry felt when she woke up was the pounding in her head. She groaned, wincing at the blazing headache she had that traveled to her eyes as she squeezed them shut even tighter. She let herself lie still, feeling that her body was laying on something cold, making a chill run up her spine as all she could think about was,

_“What happened to me?”_

She tries to recall what had happened to her this morning in Rush Valley. Colonel Mustang had shown up and told her that he needed her help because her two friends had disappeared, and she wasted no time to pack up and leave with him. Then she recalls boarding the train and then… lights out. She swore she got hit in the head with something and was knocked unconscious. But by what? Or by who? Feeling like her thoughts were going nowhere, she had no choice but to sit up and see where she was. She tried rolling onto her back but she quickly came to a conclusion that her hands were tied together behind, sending her in a wave of panic. 

_“What in the world?”_ She thought, trying her best to make herself sit up from the cold concrete floor. _“A warehouse?”_ She sat against a brick wall of a giant open room, all dusty and covered in dirt and the smell of water damage was quite clear to her nose. She gagged at the stench. _“This place is disgusting. But how did I end up here?”_

As if it was right on cue, someone happened to stroll into the room towards her. Still wearing the unknowingly false uniform was Roy Mustang. Winry could see the white bandage over his eye was gone, revealing a cloudy gray eye and a large scar that ran from the bottom of his eyelid, all the way down to his jawline. Winry couldn’t help but stare at the sight of him as Roy chuckled. 

“Glad to see you’re finally awake, Miss Rockbell. I was getting worried I hit you too hard.” He said so casually that it sent her on edge.

Her eyes widened with a small gasp from her lips. “You’re the one who knocked me out?! Why? Did I do something?” She asked, worriedly.

He chuckles again and shakes his head slowly. “No. You didn’t. Well… at least in this universe you didn’t.” He starts moving a wooden box over towards her as she tries taking in what he just said. 

She looks down at the ground all puzzled. “What do you mean by… this universe?”

He sits down onto the box, crossing his legs at the ankles, leaning a bit forward to get a good look at her; Studying her features. “Well, Miss Rockbell, I’m not the Roy Mustang you know, I’m his doppelganger.”

Winry cocks her head to the side, wondering why he was practically speaking to her in a foreign language. “His… what?”

“A doppelganger is someone who looks like someone else, and is from another universe. That’s what I am.” 

She ignored the way he looked at her as her mind raced with this new found information. Doppel… what? She couldn’t quite believe what he was saying, and it showed up on her face quite clearly. He chuckles again, leaning back to sit a bit straighter in his makeshift chair.

“I know it sounds like a hoax, but it’s real.” Roy replies, calmingly.

“But… But that’s not possible. People don’t just get look-alikes, especially ones from another universe… that’s… that’s insane.” She replies, skeptical. 

“Well let me ask you this, did you believe that you could bind someone’s soul with blood like your friend Edward did to his younger brother? Did you believe in any of that sort of thing?” 

“Um… no… actually. Seeing Al’s soul bonded to armor was a real wake up call for me.” It indeed was. Not that Winry didn’t believe in alchemy, she just didn’t get it like her friends do, so seeing her friend’s soul bonded to metal was a real surprise.

He seemed to beam proudly with her response.“Then why is this so hard to believe? Scientists across the land have been trying to figure out how the multiverse works, just like people have been trying to figure out how alchemy can do certain things.” He smiles down at her. “Do you believe me now, Miss Rockbell?”

She stared once again at him in shock. “You really are Mr. Mustang’s doppelganger, that’ll explain why you look a bit different than him.”

“That is correct.”

“But I don’t understand… what do you want from me? And why are you here in this world?”

His face fell slightly, but he still kept that creepy smile plastered on for her. “I’ll tell you why. To make a long story short, my world’s Edward Elric killed a dear friend of mine, and instead of turning himself in, he attacked me and became public enemy number one. That, and he’s now the leader of a group of rebels that is trying to stop me and the military, and he’s come to this world to try to escape reality. Frankly… he’s a coward who needs to take responsibility for Maes Hughes’ death.”

“No…” Winry said, shaking her head at the story. “Ed… a killer? No way! And he killed Hughes? That’s impossible, Ed loves Hughes. Why would he kill him?!”

“Your world’s Ed might love Hughes, but mine _didn’t._ And that boy needs to pay.” Roy replies, bitterly.

“Okay, Okay… but why me? What do you need me for?”

His smile returned fully, slowly turning into a grin. “Because you’re going to be the perfect bait for my Edward. You’re practically a spitting image of her, he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference after a few small changes.”

“Is he talking about my doppelganger?” She wondered, feeling uncomfortable at his grin. 

“What kind of changes?” She asks, curiously. 

“I’m having one of my subordinates look for some new clothes for you, one’s that will match what your doppelganger used to wear, or at least close to it.” He replies, standing up. “And for the other changes? It can be done right now, actually.” 

Before she could react, she felt a tip of blade on her right cheek, digging into her skin. She couldn’t even scream when his sword swiped down quickly, making a large gash in her cheek, one that was deep enough to leave a permanent scar. 

“She had a scar on her face that she got during the war, I remember it crystal clearly when me and her fought that one time.” Roy replies, grabbing her by the ponytail. She shrieked at the pulling just as she felt the blade go across her hair, cutting it rather short. “And she had a little bob as well.”

Roy tosses her discarded hair to the side, making Winry paralized in fear. She could feel herself grow paler and paler for many different reasons, as she could hear the tiny droplets of blood roll off her cheek, and onto the floor below. Her choppy new hairstyles stuck to her face from the sweat and blood, as she refused to meet his gaze. 

But it didn’t last long as he hummed, and reached out to grab her face, making her wince at the stinging feeling in her cheek. Roy stared into her eyes, thinking. “Your eyes are a bit more blue than hers was, but from far away I’m pretty sure he won’t notice.” 

“So you’re going to use me as bait?” She asked, angry as she wiggled out of his grasp. “The Ed I know would never fall for a trick like this! He’s very observant, he’ll know if I’m an imposter! What makes you think your Edward wouldn’t know?!”

Her feisty personality seemed to intrigue him a bit, as he just shrugs at her question. “If this doesn’t work, I’ll just tell him that his girlfriend and child are dead, I’m sure he’ll be sent straight over the edge if I tell him that. He’ll have no choice to hide and seek revenge on them by coming after me.”

Winry’s anger suddenly vanishes at his words, slightly blushing in confusion as she quietly asks, “Ch-Child?”

“In my world, you and Ed have a child… or at least you were going to have one until one of my General’s killed them both.” He snickers. “That boy’s going to be so devastated when he finds out about their deaths. I almost feel bad for him.”

Winry ignored the last part, taken completely by surprise by the... well… the surprise. The thought of her and Ed having a child together was a huge shock. “Does Ed actually feel the same way as me…?!” She thought, feeling her face all hot.

Roy could see all the emotions on her face, as he just let his smile grow. “Don’t feel bad, It’s not like it was you who was having the kid anyway.” 

She grit her teeth, and glared at him with cold eyes. “Shut up! Even if I wasn’t, it still hurts me greatly! How could you have just sat there and let one of your General’s kill an unborn child?! Have you got no heart?!”

Winry nearly shivered as a dark shadow covered the man’s eyes as he grabbed a fistfull of her hair. She shrieked again as he spoke in the most coldest, and malice tone she’s ever heard. 

“I did have a heart… but that all changed when **Elric** killed Hughes. **He** killed my friend and didn’t even take responsibility for it… that fucking coward of an alchemist.” Roy replies, negatively. **“He’s going to pay for what he did… I’m going to make sure the ground he stands on is stained in red as I slice his throat with my blade, and burn him to a crisp with my fire.”**

His ears perk up when she saw her sobbing quietly, eyes shut tightly with small streams of tears rolling down her ruined cheeks. He seemed to savoir this sight as he bent down a bit more, his lips ghosting just above her ear. 

**“Am I scaring you, miss Rockbell?”** He got a small whimper in response. **“Awe… I’m sorry… didn’t mean to, I was just trying to get my point across, I didn’t think I would make you cry. I promise.”** He lets go of her hair, watching as she immediately curls herself up into a ball, crying.

“My apologies, I really didn’t mean to. It’s just Edward makes my blood boil everytime, and I get carried away with my fantasies of destroying him.” He sighs. “It’s such a shame though, you could have had a better life if you didn’t get yourself tangled up with that boy. I almost pity you.” He turns around to leave, looking at her one last time. “The plan will be set in motion soon, and I guess there’s no need to threaten you to act your part as a hostage; You already seemed to know your lines quite well.”

And he left the room, as Winry tried the best to curl up into a ball without the use of her hands. She felt sick, scared, lost, and confused. She felt so bad that her friend was about to be dragged into this pit of hell, and she was going to be the main reason he gets dragged into it. 

She sobbed quietly, as more tears rolled down her cheeks as she whispers, “Ed… I’m so sorry…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't even give Winry a break either. In the matter of fact, NO one gets a break. Lol. Thanks for reading!


	12. Strip Away Our Sanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He then realizes that he didn’t travel through time like he thought, and starts shaking his head again. _“Oh Ed, what did you do?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING: Heavy angst and gruesome scenes.**

**-3 Days Earlier-**   
**-William’s Universe-**

A painful groan pasted his split lips as he managed to somehow get the pile of heavy rubble off his back. He winced, touching his side at the stabbing pain there.

“Damn… I think I broke a few ribs.” Kimblee said, bitterly.

He felt blood drip out of the corner of his mouth as he took in the sight around him. Just moments ago, him and the other rebels were defending the base, and they didn’t even see the enemies because they brought their tanks and bombarded the place with missiles. They never even stood a chance. To be honest, he was starting to think he might be dead because it surely would be a miracle that he was alive after being shot at.

His dark eyes that had a hint of gray,to match some the streaks in his hair took in the sight around him. The front of the base was completely destroyed, and he could see bodies of his fallen comrades scattered across. What made the situation worse was that he could see and hear soldiers from the corrupted military heading inside, running around and shooting anybody that was still alive. Kimblee knew he fucked.

_“Shit.”_ He grit his teeth, fighting back the pain all over. _“I’ve got to get out of here.”_

As much as it would have been nice to lay on the cold ground and die, he knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t die here. Not until this war was over. So he pushed himself up to stand, stumbling into the shadows as he tried to think of a plan. He wandered along, drowning out the screams of his people, and satanic laughs of the soldiers. 

_“I got to think of something… I’m starting to feel numb.”_

Even through the dark spots that clouded his eyes, he could see something that made his heart stop. It was just a glimpse, the _tiniest_ of glimpse, but he saw it, saw _him._ The Blood King himself, Fuhrer Mustang.

Kimblee’s breath caught in his throat. _“Shit. He really is here. Wait… that’s Ed and Winry’s room.”_ His eyes widened. _“Oh no.”_

He jogged upstairs, staying deep in the shadows as he made it to the roof of the room. Due to the blast, the ceiling caved in in some spots, which was perfect for Kimblee to peak in and take a look. The first thing he saw was the alchemy circle, wide open with the time traveling rift.

He quietly gasped. _“It’s still open? Which means Ed went through, but… how come nothing changed? If he went through it should mean that he saved Hughes and changed the timeline, we shouldn’t even be having this war right now. So what gives?”_

“Where’d he go, Miss Rockbell?”

Kimblee nearly shivered at the chilling voice of the Fuhrer below. He shifted his gaze to the opposite side of the room where Mustang stood, along with some Generals and his blood pawns. After all this time, he still kept his old teammates around to twiddled under his thumb.

The Blood Queen, Captain Riza Hawkeye;

The Blood Knight, First Lieutenant Jean Havoc;

The Blood Rook, First Lieutenant Heymans Breda;

The Blood Pawn, Warrant Officer Kain Fuery;

And finally, The Blood Bishop, Captain Vato Falman. 

They were all here, the original team that the rebel leader Edward Elric worked with. They were all here, and made Kimblee’s stomach tie into knots. He watched them crowd around a small figure, who had bruises and cuts all around her body, and was desperately hugging her stomach.

_“Winry.”_ He thought upon realization.

“I told you, I’m not telling you.” She spewed, making the older man pissed. 

The Fuhrer backhanded her hard, before reaching over and pulling her up by her hair. Staring into her teary, but cold eyes. “Tell me the truth or else… I’ll **cut** the infant out of your stomach.” He warned, placing his blade near her. Her eyes shrink, confirming his theory. “So I was right. You are carrying Elric’s devil spawn. That’s why you’re holding your stomach like that, you’re not really in pain are you, Miss Rockbell?”

She starts shaking her head. “No…. No, please… don’t.”

“Then answer the question. **Where.Is.He?** ” He made sure to emphasize the last three words, making her quiver even more.

The blond looked hesitant, but she had no choice. “He’s… He’s t-time traveling. He’s going t-to save Hughes.”

The Fuhrer’s shoulders tensed up upon heating those words. **“What?”** He gripped her hair tighter, pouring even more malice in his voice. **“What makes him think he can save him?!?!”**

“I don’t know! He just thinks it’s possible!!!” She cried, shutting her eyes tightly at the pain.

**“So that’s where Elric went. He’s time traveling.”** He scoffs. **“What an idiot. Does he really think he can fix his own mess? It’s his fault anyway.”**

Kimblee didn’t like how his inside coil at the tone the Fuhrer was using, and he certainly didn’t like how his very presence made everyone in the room shiver, and that included his own soldiers. 

_“Mustang. What the hell happened to you? How can you have so much rage inside?”_ He wondered.

“Your majesty, what should we do about the situation? Should we try to stop the rebel leader?” One of the Generals asked, just as the Fuhrer let go of Winry’s hair.

Roy let his eyes trail to the rift on the floor, eyeing it with disgust, but also with curiosity. “Yes. I’ll go to the other side.”

Some of the soldiers quietly gasp fearfully.

“But sir, are you sure that’s the wisest decision?” Captain Hawkeye replies, worriedly. “Who knows what could happen to you. If something did, then who’s going to run this cou-”

“I know the consequences, Captain. It’s risky, I’ll give you that.” Roy says, smirking a bit. “However, imagine what we could do if we could time travel, we can change so many things that could benefit us in the future. It’ll be extraordinary.” 

Riza paled a bit. “I see, Sir. But what about Elric, Sir? What happens when we run into him?”

Roy’s smirk grew bigger. “That’s easy. We **kill** him.” 

Another General raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Sir, not to cross a line or anything, but weren’t you and Major Hughes close? Wouldn't you want Major Elric to save Hu-”

Kimblee heard many sounds in the next three seconds. First, the sound of a blade being swung; Next, the sound of flesh being cut and blood spewing out of an open wound; and finally, a small thug and then a big thug was followed afterwards. He then heard Winry shriek as his eyes finally saw what it was. 

The Blood King had swung his sword and had sliced the poor General’s head off his large body. 

It was still so haunting that the soldier’s eyes were still wide open as his body dropped to the floor.

Kimblee could tell he wasn’t the only one who wanted to throw up. A few of them looked like they were about to cry. Talk about mental abuse. He remembers meeting Roy back in the ishvalan war, along with the people who he recruited, so he knew how Roy’s subordinates felt. To see a man you respected enough to follow get eaten up by the rage in his heart must have messed with their heads (Especially when Edward told them they were so hesitant to disobey him five years ago). Their minds must be so fucked up that they can’t even stand up for themselves anymore. It was sad. 

Roy sighed, sliding the crimson stained blade back into its covering. “No. Elric doesn't deserve a second chance, he isn’t allowed to fix what he’s done. I gave him a simple order, and he didn’t follow it and Maes Hughes paid the price. He’s an arrogant boy if he thinks he can get a second chance.” He faces everyone in the room. “I’m going through the rift, and if this works will be able to travel through time as we please. So, General Halcrow?”

The older man stood up straighter. “Yes, Sir?”

“I want you and the other soldiers to stand by, If this works I’m going to summon the rest of you through so we can start our world domination. Is that understood?” 

He nods with a salute. “Yes, Sir.”

Roy spared a quick glance at Winry that was silently crying on the ground. He frowns heavily. “General?”

“Yes, Sir?”

“Silence her, would you. She’s getting on my nerves.” He turns to face the rift. “Besides, that demon spawn isn’t allowed to live.” He walks away, leaving Halcrow with a huge smile. 

“With pleasure, My King.” Halcrow says, pulling out his gun.

Winry’s watery eyes snapped open, as she knew what was coming. “No. No… please, don’t…” She begged, shaking her head.

Her scream filled the air as a shot was fired, along with five more. Her body dropped to the ground, blood and guts painted the room as she still held her stomach of the unborn child she would never get to hold.

Kimblee slapped his hand over his mouth, covering his gasp as he pulled away from the hole. His eyes were wide as he shook to the core. _“Did… did he just…?”_ He then starts to pray that he’ll blink and the timeline would be reset, but he had a feeling in his gut that something was wrong. _“Ed. Whatever you’re dealing with, you have to fix this now. You have to fix this now, you have to fix this now, you have to fix this-”_

A bright light from the rift nearly blinded him, knocking him out of his delusional state as he crawled to take another peak. The room was nearly empty, except for the dead bodies and General Halcrow, as he caught a glimpse of Warrant Officer Fuery going through the rift and disappearing.

Kimblee clenched his teeth. _“Fuck. They all went through. Damn it.”_ With a new found confidence, he ignored the pain he felt as he made a life changing decision. _“If the timeline hasn’t reset yet, then something must be wrong. I got to help Edward, I got to stop the Fuhrer from getting to him.”_

He stood up, and braced himself as he jumped down the hole, clinging onto the surprised General.

“What the fuck?!” Halcrow cursed, as he tried to pry the man off him. 

Kimblee somehow disarmed him from using his gun, and managed to wrap his arms around the older man’s neck, putting him in the choke hold. Halcrow desperately tried to remove his arms, but slowly choked on the loss of air, turning blue before falling limp. The raven haired Rebel sighed, letting the unconscious body fall to the floor. He also wasted no time grabbing the gun off the floor, reloading it with a new magazine he found on Halcrow’s belt. 

His eyes soon trailed to the girl on the floor, swallowing the pile of vomit in his throat. She looked so unrecognizable now with all the bullet wounds embedded in her body, and she was already starting to get the rotting smell of a decomposing corpse. 

“Winry….” He mumbled, sadly. He looked between her and the circle not too far away. “I’m going to go help him, and he’ll fix this. I promise.” 

He walked towards the circle, but only after he gently patted her head and whispered the words, ‘Sorry’ to her. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen when he stepped on the transmutation circle, not knowing if he was going to live or die, but he knew deep down that his boss was in danger, and needed help. 

“I’m coming, Edward.”

And he stepped on the circle.

***Break***

Kimblee’s body was shot out of thin air and collided with a storage shelf. The rattle of cans and bottles fell on top of him, making his throbbing head hurt even more. He cussed, and pushed himself on all four. Confusion suddenly struck him, realizing that he was in…. A closet? No. A pantry?

“What the hell was that?” He heard someone’s muffled voice from outside somewhere, along with a faint sound of footsteps.

Kimblee snapped his head towards the door that suddenly flew open, with a large man that wore a food stained apron. The man looked pissed. “What the fuck are you doing in my pantry?! How’d you even get in here?!”

“Pantry?” Kimblee whispered, before gasping. He stood up quickly and wasted no time to brush past the man.

“Excuse me? Where do you think you’re going?!”

He stopped, realizing he was standing in a wide open kitchen in a restaurant. His breath stopped short when he saw people that weren’t rebels or soldiers staring back at him. “No way.”

“Are you deaf? I asked you a question.” Kimblee ignored him again and walked away. “Hey! Get back here!”

He pushed open the door, stepping out on the sidewalk. A sidewalk. He hasn’t seen or used one in five years. He even became more in awe when he saw his city that wasn’t in ruins. He saw working cars, he saw people, he saw dogs, and children. He saw people riding their bikes and selling newspapers and beautiful flowers. He could even smell them, not the blood and gunpowder he was so used too. He could hear the giggles of women and the booming laugh of the men who swept the front of their store. He couldn’t believe he saw the world he knew five years ago again.

“He… he did it. He managed to travel through time.” He said, in disbelief. He almost felt like crying.

“I thought they put you in prison, alchemy freak.” 

Kimblee glanced to the side, seeing a much older man at a table outside. He raised his eyebrow, puzzled. “I beg your pardon?”

“I said, I thought they put you in prison, alchemy freak.” The man said again.

“Alchemy freak? I’m sorry sir, but I’m not an alchemist.”

The man looked at him suspiciously. “You’re not? But you have the tattoos on your palms.”

“Um… tattoos?” Kimblee showed his palms off, showing that there were no such thing; they were just milky white and bruised.

The man looked surprised before looking guilty. “Whoops. Sorry about that. You just look like a war criminal the military imprisoned a few years back.”

He cocked his head to the side out of curiosity. “Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah. They called him the Crimson Lotus Alchemist, His name’s Solf J. Kimblee.”

The rebel froze. “Kim-Kimblee?”

The man nodded. “Yep. Man, He was something else.” He sighed. “Too bad he went all crazy during the war, the military could have used him to stop that state alchemist killer that’s on the loose.” 

Kimblee starts shaking his head. “No. No, no, no….” He turns and runs off, bolting down the street.

“Hey, where are you going?!”

He rushed down the street, brushing pasted people who gave him weird looks. Whether it was from the blood on his uniform or if it was something else, he didn’t care. His eyes searched around, his mind racing. It finally locked on a newspaper box, and he wasted no time to run up to it. He threw the latch open, swiping one and reading the date. He nearly stopped breathing at this very moment.

_“It’s not the right date.”_ He then realizes that he didn’t travel through time like he thought, and starts shaking his head again. _“Oh Ed, what did you do?”_

***Break***   
**-Present Day-**

Hughes did not get a good night's sleep. He missed the feeling of warmth from his wife next to him, and he missed when his daughter used to crawl in bed with him when she was feeling scared. He missed them both so much, even if it was just only three days, it felt like an eternity to him. He couldn’t sleep because his mind was clouded with many thoughts, clouded with worries for his injured teammates and mentally strained friends. He couldn’t sleep, and he knew his face was showing it quite well. 

Deeply colored bags under his eyes, paled skin and sluggish form. He fit the description of a sleep deprived person to a T. So he just laid there all night, staring at the ceiling, getting lost in his thoughts as his mind worked very, _very_ slowly. 

He sighed. 

Coffee sounded nice. So that’s what he did when the sun came up. He managed to drag himself downstairs, wandering into the enormous kitchen and making himself some. He was sure how he did with his slow mind (He started to question himself if he should have asked the maids for help). With a steaming cup of joe, he wandered around the mansion, tugging on the night clothes he was provided, nearly tripping on the pants that were too long. Normally he would kindly ask the maids to give him a different pair, but he just didn’t have enough energy in him to do so.

He sighed again, walking past the windows that were open to let in the cool breeze. A quick glance outside and Hughes saw a familiar face sitting in the grass next to the Armstrong family’s lake. His closest friend. 

“Roy?” He said, confused on why he was outside so early.

Deciding not to just to sit there and stare (that and he had nothing else to do), he headed outside. He walked slowly towards his friend, noticing the way he was talking to himself quietly, his shoulders tensed in fright. His forehead became etched with worry lines. He started wondering if maybe his friend was sleep walking (he’s seen Roy do it once, so it was a possibility).

“Roy?” Hughes said, loudly. 

The infamous alchemist jumped, turning to face him with frightful eyes. Roy soon sighed with relief, relaxing his tensed shoulders. “Oh, Hughes. You scared me.”

Hughes frowned. “Sorry. What are you doing out here so early?” He watched the flame alchemist stand up and brushed himself off.

“I’ve actually been out here most of the night.” He said it so nonchalantly, which made Hughes worry even more.

“What?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t really sleep, and William took over my spot to watch over Hawkeye and Fuery.” 

“I see.” Hughes took in the Colonel’s appearance some more, he too had bags under his eyes and pale skin. That, and he was still wearing his uniform from work since last night. His green eyes widened when he spotted something out of the ordinary. “Roy, what happened to your hand?!”

Roy looked down, completely unfazed by it. “Oh. It’s nothing.” Was his reply.

“It’s not nothing, you’re bleeding.”

“Barely. I’m fine, Hughes.”

There was silence, and Hughes could see the pain in Roy’s coal colored eyes. It was a pain that he was so desperately trying to hide. He frowned and looked at him with concern.

“Roy, What happened? You know you can talk to me.” He replies, stepping a bit closer. Silence again, and Hughes was about to give up until he saw tears roll down his friends cheek. “Roy?”

“I… I can’t do it.” Roy replies, quietly. “I can’t do it, Maes.” His body shook as he sobbed.

Hughes stared at him in surprise. “Roy….”

“I can’t do it. Everything’s just crashing down….. I just can’t do it.” He sobbed. “I CAN’T FUCKING DO IT, MAES!!!” He took a shaky breath, taking a small step forward as Hughes opened his arms, letting him fall into his embrace.

“Roy….” Hughes begins, softly. “It’s okay. Let it all out. It’s okay.”

Roy shook a bit more, burying his face in his friend’s chest. “Maes… c-can we stay l-like this for a f-few minutes? I… I really need a h-hug.”

Hughes could hear his heart break into two. Here was his best friend, one of the strongest people he knows, both mentally and physically, breaking down in front of him. Roy wasn’t one to let his mask slip in front of someone, it was even hard for him to let it slip in front of people he knew, so when he fell this low, and this hard, you know it was bad. 

Hughes smiled sadly, even when he knew Roy couldn’t see it, and held him tighter. “Sure thing, Roy. I’ll hold onto you as long as you need me to.”

And Roy broke out into a wailing cry.


	13. Am I Alone? Or Do You Share My Pain?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tiny droplets of water will fill the box he laid in, to fill the glass box he was trapped in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's another angst-y chapter! Only this time, I'll be about Ed and how he's dealing with all this.
> 
> As always: Small trigger warning for anyone who has depression. 
> 
> So,... you might want to bring tissues for the ending too? It's just a small suggestion.

Drip. 

Drop.

Drip.

Drop.

It was a sound that Ed was used to by now, a sound he was drowned in when he entered his dreams, his nightmares, or just getting lost in his own mind.

Drip.

Drop.

Drip. 

Drop.

Tiny droplets of water will fill the box he laid in, to fill the glass box he was trapped in. 

Drip.

Drop.

Drip.

Drop.

His world used to be open and free, his mind used to wander around the grassy fields as the child he is. But, he can’t anymore, and that wide open field is closed off, standing so far away that he can’t even see it anymore.

Drip.

Drop.

Drip.

Drop.

Ever since his mother died, his whole world became a glass box, one that he can see through but can never leave.

Drip.

Drop.

Over the years, tiny droplets would fall and never stop, they haven’t stopped since he became an orphan to this cruel world.

Drip.

Drop.

As he sat in the box and watched the world go by as he had to put on his mask; a mask that made him an adult, a mask that gave him the confidence to speak, the willpower to fight, the sense to protect the people closest to him, but was it all real? Of course not. It’s a mask. It was _his_ mask.

Drip.

Drop.

Why? Why can’t he pull it down? Why can’t he take it off? Why can’t he rely on the people who treat him like family? Why must the glass around him squeeze tighter, and the droplets of water fall heavier than before? Why can’t he be… a kid?

Drip.

Drop.

He was a child. He was supposed to be. He was a child who loved his family, a child who would pick wild flowers for his mother, and played games with his brother. He was a child who was supposed to be happy, always laughing and cracking jokes. Now, those emotions didn’t really feel real. Now, those emotions were used as a coping mechanism. 

_His_ coping mechanism.

He’ll laugh to brush the worrisome looks off, he’ll crack a joke to ease the pain he was in, and he’ll smile and pretend to be happy to cheer up his brother who couldn’t express any.

He was a child. A child with a mask glued to his face as the water slowly rises in the box he laid in. 

Drip. 

Drop.

The water could be cold and chilling to the bone. The water could be warm and comforting. The water could be boiling his skin alive. The water was slowly rising no matter what the temperature was, no matter what he was feeling.

Drip.

Drop.

Sometimes, he’ll put his hand on the glass a wonder what it’s like on the side. Sometimes, he’ll tap on the glass out of boredom or purely overthinking. Sometimes, when nightmares or terrible memories plagued his mind, he would scream a soundless scream and bang on the glass, begging to be released, begging to wake up for this god awful trap.

But it’ll never break. He’s tried. And one day it’ll just cave in and he’ll lay there still with a body full of glass, or he’ll drown in the murky water that was slowly rising up and over his head.

Drip.

Drop.

Sometimes, he’ll cry. Not tears made of salt water, but tears that stained red in blood, slowly rolling down his cheeks as he hugged himself. He wonders if anyone else he knows is like this. Battling the demons of your past as they threaten to drown you, pounding their fists outside the glass with hate filled eyes. 

He usually just swallows, and covers his ears with his hands and closes his dull eyes, no light inside them because there was no light in his mind. He’ll swallow, and choke on the words that wouldn’t dare come out of his mouth, and put his life in more danger. 

Drip. 

Drop.

He can’t be the only one suffering.

Drip.

Drop.

He can’t be.

Drip.

Drop.

Did any of his friends experience this? Did any of his family?

**Drip.**

**Drop.**

**“I can’t be the only one.” He wanted to speak, but his voice was mute like always.**

**_Drip_ **

**_Drop._ **

**“I can’t be….” He pounded on the glass.**

**_Drip._ **

**_Drop._ **

**“I can’t be.” He pounded on the glass.**

**_Drip._ **

**_Drop._ **

**“I.Can’t.Be.” He pounded on the glass.**

**_DRIP._ **

**_DROP._ **

**_DRIP._ **

**_DROP._ **

**_DRIP._ **

**_DROP._ **

**_“I CAN’T BE THE ONLY ONE!!!!” He pounded on the glass, and with a small crack as the result, it soon got bigger and bigger._ **

**_Then….._ **

**_The box shattered._ **

Ed gasps awake, eyes shooting open and he sat up from his bed on high alert. He looked around and started panting, his skin felt hot and sweaty, along with the urge to itch the invisible glass shards that were embedded in his flesh away. As his mind registered that he was in his guest room, he couldn’t finally relax a bit. Relief washed over him when he realized he was in the real world, and was not trapped behind glass like he usually is. 

His eyes took in his surroundings again, quickly noticing that his doppelganger wasn’t in the other bed. Come to think of it, did he even come back to the room last night? He remembers after the adults came home from being attacked at HQ, William ran off without any explanation.

Ed hopes he was okay, seeing how distressed he looked before he ran off. Then, his amber eyes spot his younger brother on the balcony outside, enjoying the clear day as Ed spotted the sketch book in his hands, making him smile. Since he couldn’t sleep, Al tried out many hobbies, and doing art was one that he liked a lot. 

Deciding not to bother him (And that he needed some time alone to clear his own mind), Ed crawled out of bed, sliding his boots on and leaving the room, not really caring that he was in his sleep clothes (a nice cotton pajamas that Armstrong’s maid supplied to him and everyone when they crashed here 3 nights ago). They were soft and didn’t get tangled in his ports like some clothing he’s worn before. It was nice. Except for when it’s soaked in cold sweat like it is now.

The prodigy sighs, talking small steps down the long hallways of the mansion. He needed to clear his mind for a while after the nightmare he   
just had, and taking a walk alone seemed to always help. 

Soon, Ed found himself outside in the massive backyard that the Strongarm alchemist had. It was more like the family had enough money to own their very own Botanical Garden; They even had their own lake.

He pursed his lips together. _“Damn rich people.”_

He kept walking the grounds, thinking he was alone until he heard two sets of voices.

“I… I can’t do it. I can’t do it, Maes.”

Ed stopped in his tracks. _“Colonel?”_ He thought, hearing the man sob from somewhere. _“Is he crying?”_ He took a few steps forward, peaking around the hedges that laid against the mansion, seeing his boss and Hughes standing close to each other by the lake.

He saw the Colonel’s body shake, and Ed realized he wasn’t shaking because he was cold, because he saw the tears that streamed down his face. He frowns worriedly, an extremely rare sight he’s seeing of his commanding officer. _“Colonel?”_

He noticed that Hughes looked just as surprised as he is, before calling out his friend’s name, “Roy….”

“I can’t do it. Everything’s just crashing down….. I just can’t do it.” Roy sobbed. “I CAN’T FUCKING DO IT, MAES!!!” 

Ed watched the man take in a shaky breath, before falling into Hughes arms, completely collapsing. 

“Roy….” He heard Hughes say in a soft tone. “It’s okay. Let it all out. It’s okay.”

Ed then saw Roy shake more, burying his face in his friend’s chest. “Maes… c-can we stay l-like this for a f-few minutes? I… I really need a h-hug.”

The blonde’s eyes widened in shock, gasping quietly. Here he was, spying on his boss who has never looked, or sounded so defeated. He was supposed to be the ‘Great Flame Alchemist’ after all.

Then it hit him.

And he starts wondering if his commanding officer was suffering the same way he does? Was he having demons? Did he put on a mask that couldn’t come off? Was he not alone like he thought he was?

Ed didn’t want to jump to conclusions, as he was pulled out of his thoughts when Hughes accepted Roy’s offer, an offer that held so much meaning, even when it was just asking for a simple hug.

He notices that Hughes smiled, and held his friend tighter before saying, “Sure thing, Roy. I’ll hold onto you as long as you need me to.”

And Roy broke out into a wail, A cry that could break the coldest of people’s hearts just as it broke the young boy’s in that very moment. Now, Ed could see it, he could see the glass box once again, only this time it wasn’t around him. It was around Roy. 

Ed suddenly realized he wasn’t alone, that he wasn’t the only one trapped in a box. Roy was in one too. But it was breaking, slowly, but surely as the cracks got big enough for him to reach through and latch onto Hughes. He could see the pain he was building up, the pure hopefulness that he was going to reach through the glass and find someone; someone to give him all the hugs filled with love that he was craving. 

Without realizing it once again, Ed had fallen to his knees, a hand covering his mouth as he watched the scene. He could feel tears of his own coating his eyes, as he didn’t dare look away. 

He wasn’t alone.

He wasn’t alone.

He wasn’t alone! 

He wanted to just start balling then and there, but… does Colonel Mustang feel the same way? Does he realize that he’s trapped? Or can Edward only see it? That was the dreading thought that came across his mind, suddenly feeling the droplets of water speeding up in his tank. 

_“Maybe he doesn’t feel the same way I do. Maybe I’m just imagining it? But why can’t I see it? I-”_ As his mind raced, he was soon cut off by the sound of the flame alchemist’s voice.

“I don’t know what to do, Maes.” Roy admitted, quietly. “I don’t know what to do. There’s still so much I haven’t told you about my past, and it still comes back to haunt me somehow.”

Hughes' smile faltered slightly, still holding onto him. “Well… I can’t really help you with that, If I don’t know what’s going on.” He replies, quickly coming up with another answer. “But, you can indirectly tell me if you want.”

Roy stayed silent for a moment, before replying with an answer that hit Edward hard. “All my life… I thought the world was so cruel to me, and instead of listening to the people around me, I did things I regret.” He replies, frowning. “Instead, I trapped myself in this false reality, trapped inside my own mind which is not even a good place to begin with. It’s broken, beaten, drained of life. Do you understand, Maes?” He pulls away from the hug, looking his friend in the eye. “Do you understand what it’s like to be trapped in your mind?”

Maes was the next one to frown, shaking his head. “No. I don’t. At least not the way you’re describing it. I wish I could-”

Suddenly, someone came up from the side and hugged Roy tightly. The raven haired man gasped, and did the best to look beside him, catching the sight of his youngest subordinate. 

Roy stared in surprise with his puffy and red eyes. “Fu-Fullmetal?” 

“I know…” Ed choked, lifting his head up slightly, not breaking the hug. For once, he let his tears show in front of someone other than his brother. “I know what it’s like to be trapped inside your own mind for so long.”

Roy continued to stare, wondering if the teen was speaking the truth; But the tears from him was enough conformation for him. Everyone knows that Edward Elric doesn’t just cry to cry, it has to have meaning to it, and that’s all he saw when he looked in those amber eyes.

Soon, Roy found himself breaking down again as he threw his arms around the boy, hugging him tightly. 

Yes. The shards did pierce their skin.

Yes. The water still filled the tank. 

And Yes. Nobody could hear their screams.

Except, for them.

They weren’t alone, they never were, they just hadn’t realized it till now. 

Yes. They’ll always be trapped in the glass box, except this time, they weren’t alone. 

Yes. Maybe this time they can finally open the box….

And let each other in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to throw in some parental RoyEd, I mean I put it in the tags anyway. I hope you enjoyed the story! See you soon!


	14. I'll Wrap Myself In A Blanket Of Self Blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He smile proudly. “So why don’t you congratulate yourself instead of sitting in self blame? You did good, Mustang. You saved a life even before becoming Fuhrer. You should be proud of yourself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Angst. I'm so sorry, I can't help myself. This one continues right after Ed and Roy hug from the last chapter. So this one is for all you Parental RoyEd lovers!
> 
> **Small Warning: Talks about mild racism, killing, self doubt, and suggestion of depression. Proceed with caution as always.**
> 
> Other than that, enjoy!

He heard Hughes say something like, ‘Giving them a few minutes alone’, and ‘I’ll make sure no one bothers you’, before his light footsteps disappeared behind him, leaving him alone once again.

All Roy wanted was a hug. A hug that held warmth and comfort, a hug that wasn’t forced but was buried in love. He _needed_ a hug, because his very being craved it, because his body was so touch starved over the last few years. Sure, Hughes would give him hugs because he was a very affectionate man, but Roy needs one that holds a lot of meaning. Like when Hughes or Gracia would hug Elicia, he always wondered if she felt safe inside their hold; And those were the ones he missed the most. He missed those hugs from his parents and misses those hugs his Aunt would give him, he misses all those very much.

So, when the cap over the bottle of his emotions finally broke he couldn’t help but let everything out, sharing his feelings to his best friend who didn’t understand half of it, and felt almost ashamed by doing so. But he _listened._ Hughes actually listened while holding him in an embrace that he needed, listening to him while he broke down in front of him. 

The cap, the bottle, the box, or whatever you wanted to call it had finally broken after so many years. Shedding the tears he couldn’t share because he had a mask he had to keep on while running around as the military’s dog. He let loose in front of someone who would never judge him, who’s seen him do at least a few times in his life, but it was never to this extent before. It never was, never has been until now. 

**_“Do you understand what it’s like to be trapped in your mind?”_ **

He asked Hughes that same question just moments ago, he always wondered if someone else shared the same fate he did, or was he all alone? He then realize his friend didn’t share the same fate when he shook his head and said, 

**_“No. I don’t. At least not the way you’re describing it. I wish I could-”_ **

He wanted to cry again, and try his best to explain the feeling of being trapped in his own mind, but that all changed when someone wrapped their small arms around his waist, nearly knocking him over. To his surprise, he saw it was his youngest subordinate who came over, and was crying his eyes out as well. 

**_“I know…”_ **

That one simple line meant everything to Roy as the boy confirmed his theory even more.

**_“I know what it’s like to be trapped inside your own mind for so long.”_ **

Out of all people, Roy thought Ed would be the last person to confess something like that, and confess it to _him_ of all people. He didn’t know what possessed him to do so, and he hoped he didn’t go too far, but he just threw his arms around the boy and hugged him with all his might.

He let the tears spill again as they soon fell to their knees under his weight, not letting go because he craved for the touch and feeling a huge sigh of relief that he wasn’t alone in something like this. So he continued to hold on as the minutes passed.

Maybe hours.

Could be days and he wouldn’t even have noticed.

He honestly wasn’t so sure anymore. 

“Colonel?” 

He heard the boy speak and froze, eyes widening. Oh god…. He was hugging Edward. He was hugging _Edward._ What the heck is he doing? What was he thinking? This was subordinate, and he was the boss. Bosses aren’t supposed to embrace their workers like this. So what the hell was he even thinking? 

Out of slight fear, Roy started to push the boy away, but Ed kept his tight grip on his waist. 

Roy was surprised. “Fullmetal?”

“It’s fine…” Ed replies, a bit embarrassed at what he was saying, but stuck with it. “I kind of… need one too.”

“Oh…” He slumped back into the hug. “I see. That’s good to know…” 

Silence fell, and it was a little bit awkward for the both of them because they weren’t exactly the most expressive people, but it was still nice to get to hold each other like this.

“So… Colonel… are you… okay?” Ed stumbled, again, he wasn’t exactly great at this kind of stuff.

“I don’t know.” Was Roy’s reply, and he was being completely honest. “I want to say yes, but I can’t bring myself to.”

Ed frowns, sympathizing with the older man. “Colonel-”

“Listen.” He pulls away to stare straight into the child’s golden eyes with his coal ones. “Full-.... _Edward,”_ He quickly corrects himself, he wants to push aside the military titles so he could talk to him seriously. “I… I envy you.”

Ed’s eyebrows shot straight up. “What?” He cocks his head to the side. “What the hell are you saying?”

Roy smiled softly with his still saddened eyes. “I envy you. It’s true, I really do.”

Now Ed was even more confused. What the heck was he talking about? “I don’t think I follow. Why do you envy me?”

Another silence as Roy sat down more comfortably in the grass, and Ed soon copied him, realizing this might be a long tale.

With the same expression still plastered on his face, the flame alchemist continued his confession. “You might not want to hear this from me, but we’re so much alike in so many ways. I think it’s the reason we butt heads.” Roy begins, clasping his hands together in his lap. “But the one I don’t share with you, is the way you can say ‘No’ and stand up for yourself.”

Ed frowns again, his forehead becoming etched with worried lines. He did not like the way the Colonel was sounding. “Mustang?” He muttered, concernedly. 

“For all my life, especially when I got into the military, I wanted to be on their good side, I wanted to obey every command to make sure they liked me, even when I disagreed. I….” His chest tightened at the terrible memories he had made for himself, feeling disgusted by his past decisions. “I almost said ‘No’ to the Ishvalan war, just like Major Armstrong did, but I… I couldn’t. All I wanted was to move up in ranks, and that was the way to do it. So instead of listening to my gut, I said ‘Yes’ to a massacre.”

Ed was really starting to hate the way he was sounding, afraid what might happen if he continued to go on. “Mustang, you don’t have to go on with your story.”

Roy shakes his head. “No. I want to, I need to get this off my chest.” He looks down at his hands that were twitching in his lap. “I’ll start somewhere better, It’ll make you understand better.” He swallows hard before speaking. “Ever since I was born, the real reason I turned out like this was because of the cruelty of racism.” 

“Correct me I’m wrong, but you are Xingnese, right?” Ed cuts in, a little bit guilty for asking something so personal and being blunt about it. 

“Correct. I am Xingnese, at least on my mother’s side I am.” 

_“So I was right. When I first met him he kind of reminded me of Teacher a bit with his appearance, and I remember her mentioning that she was Xingnese decent.”_ Ed thought, feeling his heartstrings being pulled on along with some anger. _“Of course he was picked on just because he doesn’t look Amestrian. Wait. Was he born here or was he born in Xing?”_

“So if your mother’s Xingnese, does that mean your dad’s Amestrian or he is from another country?” The teen asked, his curious mind taking over.

“No, my father was Amestrain, and I was born in this country.” Roy replies, making the boy upset about the outcome of his life.

“So.. why pick on you? That’s so unfair! Even if you weren’t born in Amestris, they still shouldn’t treat you like that! Especially when you were a kid!”

“It’s just how it is, and unfortunately, It always will be until the day I die.”

“But… If you knew it was wrong, why did you let it get to you so bad?”

“Cause, I too have fallen into a dark place in my life.” Roy continues to stare down at his hands. “My mother was killed for it, and my father was killed because he was rich and married a commoner from another country.” 

Ed stares in surprise, gasping at the older man. “You mean your parents were murdered?” 

Roy nods, still not looking up. “Yeah. They were. I was eight, and luckily I did get to see it. It happened when I was at school, and when I got home I found the police and paramedics there.” He chuckles with sadness and regret. “It was a terrible day for rain.” 

Ed felt his chest tighten at the man's hidden phrase for shedding tears. Mustang had lost both his parents at a young age, just like he lost his mother at a young age too (Except she wasn’t murdered like his was). It was frightening and sickening to hear that. And was he still going to tell his story? “Mustang-” He begins.

“I’m going to finish my story, I need to.” Roy cuts in, determined to push through the pain. He takes a deep breath and continues, “I went to live with my paternal Aunt in Central, and still, people still called me names because I looked different from everyone else; So my Aunt and foster sisters homeschooled me, and that’s where my narrow path began for me. From that day forward, I wanted to help shape this country better, so I decided early in life I wanted to join the military, and I began working my ass off for it. When I was about fifthteen, I learned about a man who supposedly can control flames, a man who was an alchemist, the first flame alchemist ever.”

Ed perked up at this change of event, his curiosity getting the best of him once again. “The first flame alchemist?”

“Yeah.” Roy looked up at the boy and raised an eyebrow. “Why do you sound so surprised? Did you really think I was the first one?”

The blonde nodded. “Well yeah, I mean, I’ve never seen anything in alchemy books about flame alchemy, I just thought you might have been the one who invented it.”

The Colonel couldn’t help but smirk a bit at the boy’s confession. “Oh really? I didn’t think you thought of me so highly, Ed.” 

Ed felt his face get hot, blushing out of embarrassment. “W-well… I mean…” He scolded and crossed his arms. “J-just… finish your damn story and don’t let that get to your fucking head, alright? It’s already big enough as it is.”

Roy snorted, always enjoying a little harmless teasing to his youngest ally. However, his face fell soon afterwards. He clears his throat. “Anyway, I went to go train with him, I mean, an alchemist who can control fire? It was amazing, and if I could learn to control something like that, I could help out a lot of people. All kinds of possibilities seemed endless if I could learn to control a seemingly uncontrollable element.  
“So I dedicated my life to alchemy, practicing as much as I could until my Master deemed me worthy of flame alchemy and its secrets, as I waited for the day to become a state alchemist.”

Roy took a quick glance at Edward who was listening intensely, and he let a tired sigh pass his lips quietly, before speaking. “I went back to my Master who was slowly dying from an Illness, both mental and physical, and I begged him to tell me about flame alchemy. I was only a Corporal, and if I became a state alchemist I could become a Major, a huge step closer into helping this country. Except… he wouldn’t tell me, he was disappointed that I joined the military.” 

Ed looks surprised again, realizing that him and the Colonel had been in the same boat before. “ _So his master had the same reaction like my Teacher did when she found out I joined the military. Figures something like that would happen.”_

“In the end, he died, but not before telling me to protect his daughter who had the secrets to flame alchemy, which made me even more confused.” Roy admitted, squeezing his hands tighter. “I just didn’t understand why he wouldn’t give it to me, I was a good student, I made sure to follow his orders, and I even was nice to his child. I honestly thought something was seriously wrong with me at that point, maybe I just didn’t belong in the world.   
“However, a few months later, his daughter told me she saw my vision for this world, and thought that I should deserve to know the truth. I was thrilled, until I found out where the notes were hidden.”

“And… where were they?” Ed asked, slowly. He was almost afraid to hear the answer after hearing the tone his commanding officer was using for this part of the story.

Roy’s eyes darkened, frowning heavily. “The research notes were on her back, tattooed in red ink.” 

The teen gasps harshly, amber eyes going wide. “No… No way….”

“I thought I was dreaming, but I wasn’t. For most of my teen years and into adulthood I worshipped the ground my Master was on, and that all vanished in an instant after discovering the truth of who he is. He was a psychopath, a man who had no empathy and I didn’t see it until now. He yelled at me because of how corrupt and how the military doesn’t care about its people, and here he is doing the _exact_ same thing. And I hated him from that moment on.” 

“So you took your state exam, and became an alchemist?”

“Yes. I became a Major, a dog of the military, and I vowed to change this country for the better; because it’s not just the military who’s corrupted, it can be this country’s people as well.”

“Damn.” Ed said, stunned by all this. He looked at him worriedly again. “And you had to go to war shortly after this?”

“I did. A few years after the exam.” Roy replies, his eyes not quite meeting the boy’s.

He gave a low whistle. “That’s rough, Colonel.” 

“It was.”

“But, not to be rude or anything, I still don’t understand. Where’s this whole envy thing still coming from? Are you saying that you still can’t say ‘No’?”

“Yes. I never could, Ed.” He finally looks up at him, eyes full of self blame. “I never stood up for myself, I let all those fowl names and being bullied to get to me; I didn’t listen to my Aunt when she told me going to the military wouldn’t solve my problems; I followed my Master blindly and I even catch myself doing it at work all the time. I’m literally a dog following a bone. I’m an idiot….”

Ed watched his boss squeezed his hands even tighter, almost suffocating the blood flow in them that they turned a scary white color. “Mustang?”

“I’m an idiot. I really am. I became so god damn blinded, I went to the lowest point and got you to join the military, I got a fucking child to work for the goverment just so I can move up in rank! What the fuck is wrong with me?! I’m such a-”

“MUSTANG!” Ed reaches out and grabs his hands, giving him a shake. “SNAP OUT OF IT! YOU’RE GOING TO LOOSE YOUR HANDS IF YOU KEEP THIS UP!” Roy froze at the boy’s outburst, scaring the daylights out of him. Ed sighs, slowly unwinding the man’s hands. “Jeez, Mustang. You’re going to give me a heart attack. And stop with the self blame, it’s not your fault that I am here.”

Roy’s shoulder slumped, looking confused. “What do you mean? Of course it’s my fault, I recruited you.”

Ed shakes his head. “No. You didn’t. You _offered_ me a job, and I said yes. I could have turned it down, but I didn’t, and you want to know why?” He asks, watching the raven haired man nod his head. “It’s because you lit the spark me again, your words, even if some of them were harsh, it’s what I needed to hear. You gave me hope and a chance to get my life back on track, you gave me a chance to get me and Al’s bodies back.” He smiles proudly. “So why don’t you congratulate yourself instead of sitting in self blame? You did good, Mustang. You saved a life even before becoming Fuhrer. You should be proud of yourself.”

Roy wasn’t sure if stunned was the correct word for the way he was feeling right now. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing too. He saved a life without even realizing it, he completed a life goal that he’s been dying to do, and it went right over his head like a rocket. He wasn’t sure if he should cry or laugh at how stupid he’s been; And how he might as well be living under a rock at this point since he keeps missing all this things. 

And all this time, he thought he had ruined this boy’s life. He thought he had shackled this poor boy in the invisible chains of the military, slowly sucking him dry just so he could get to the top. But Ed was okay with it, he was grateful for all that he’s done. He couldn’t help but let a smile stretch across his face.

“Ed.” He started, trying to get the words out. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything, you don’t need to.” Ed replies, honestly. “And listen, I know you’re a bit frightened with your alchemy, seeing how you have to use it, and I’m sure your doppelganger hasn’t helped with your cause either. But let me tell you, Mustang, one day you’ll find a way to use that alchemy for good, I just know it. Beside,” He points to himself. “You’ve saved me countless times in the past with your alchemy, so that has to count as something good, right?”

Roy's smile grew. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ve never thought of it that way before.” He scratches the back of his neck, shyly. “Thank you, Ed.”

“Eh, don’t mention it.” Ed replies, waving him off. “I also appreciate you for sharing your past with me, I know that wasn’t easy.”

“It definitely wasn't, but it was nice to finally share that with someone who knows what it’s like to be trapped in your own mind.”

Ed scoffs, playfully smirking. “I could definitely tell earlier by the way you cried like a baby when I found you outside.”

Roy copies his expression, raising an eyebrow. “Oh really? I recall you were crying like a baby too, you shrimp.”

His eye twitched. “WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALL, YOU BASTARD!?!?” 

The man laughs. “And the way you were hugging me earlier, definitely was just like a baby.”

Ed growls. “Say one word about the hug to anyone, and you're dead. Got it?”

Roy makes a zipping motion across his mouth. “My lips are sealed. However, Hughes saw the whole thing, remember?”

Ed’s tensed shoulders fell as he face palmed. “Awe, shit. I forgot about him.” He looks at the other alchemist. “He’s going to tell everyone, isn’t he?”

“Probably.” That reply made the boy growl even more. “Relax, Fullmetal, it might not be a bad thing. And I thought you enjoyed the hug?”

“I did, but I don’t want everyone to know that the great Flame and Fullmetal alchemists are going soft.”

“Well-”

“So…. You’re this world’s doppelgangers?” 

Their eyes widened at the new voice, both jumping to their feet in an instant, looking around.

“Colonel?” Ed said, quickly.

“To be honest, I’m a little underwhelmed.” The voice called out again, and Roy’s heart suddenly stopped.

_“That voice. I know that voice too well.”_ He thought, a feeling of dread coming over him. He pushed the boy behind him, pulling the gun from his holster. “Get behind me!” 

His heart pounded in his ears, finger on the trigger. _“I left my damn gloves inside. Of course the one time I need them to face this lunatic.”_

“Colonel?” Ed said again, a hint of worry in his undertone. 

“Stay behind me.” Roy ordered, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

Soon, they heard the crushing of leaves under someone’s boot, and the silhouette finally turned into a person, a person that Roy thought he would never meet again.

The person stood a few feet away and said, “Roy Mustang and Edward Elric. I finally found you both.”

Yeah. This was the last person Roy wanted to see right now, and that was…

Solf J. Kimblee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Roy really over this? And is Ed going to be okay? And of course... Kimblee just had to show up. Tell me what you think is going to happen next.
> 
> Hope you're enjoying the story so far, and the war against the doppelgangers are far from over, so hang on to your hats! Thanks for reading as always. See you soon!


	15. An Alchemist's WrongDoings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"The one thing worse than death is to avert your eyes from it. Look straight at the people you kill, don't take your eyes off them for a second, **and don't ever forget them; Because I promise they won't forget you."**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Few notes: 1) In this chapter Ed's never met Kimblee before, until now (obviously).
> 
> 2) There's a small reference/spoiler to the FMA:B OVA "Yet Another Man's Battlefield" at the beginning. So you've been warned for the tiny spoiler.
> 
> 3) Warning for reference to Genocide and Roy's depressed thoughts.
> 
> That's it. I hope you enjoy this short chapter. I'm not too happy with it, but it's suppose to be a little bit "tamed" (*cough*cough* sort of *cough*cough*) before I hit you guys with more suspense and action. That, and some longer chapters.
> 
> The battle against Evil Team Mustang is far from over so buckle up!

He was wrong.

Dead wrong.

And as usual, his aunt and sisters were right, being in the military wouldn't solve his problems. Learning a sinful alchemy that he thought could change the world was also wrong too.

How did he get so much blood on his hands when he didn't even touch anyone? He didn't need to. He thought by standing far away and snapping his fingers he wouldn't get them drenched in blood, but he did.

How? And why didn't he listen? To his Aunt? His sisters? His first friend, Riza?

He even had the blood of his very own academy buddy on his hands. Heathcliff Erbe. An Ishvalan who sided with his people in the war, and was killed after meeting face-to-face with him. That…. That was a wake up call for Roy Mustang.

Why? Why did they have to kill their own people? Ishvalans were still people of this country, so why kill him? And why was all the state alchemists out on the line first? Why did he have to be the one to scorch all men, women, and children?

Just why?

His head would be filled with all those thoughts and they certainly didn't help when one of friend's reminded him of his wrongdoings, just like now.

.

.

.

.

_"Maybe you can answer this Major, Why are we being ordered to kill citizens when we should be the ones protecting them? I thought alchemy was meant to help people, so why is it being used to kill them instead?"_

_The young Riza Hawkeye asked him, pulling his eyes away from his shaking, bruised and blistered, covered hands. He went to speak, hoping his voice wasn't too shaky, but someone next to him beat him to it._

_"Because that's the job we state alchemists have been given to do."_

_Roy looked up at the soldier with long hair, and eyes of a psychotic killer; and watched him set his can of food to the side, staring back at them and continued,_

_"You ask why we're here killing these people instead of protecting them? Because this is a war and that's what soldiers do. Isn't that right?"_

_Roy felt his heart clenched, almost break in half with the anger he was feeling. "You think this is our job? To cause tragedy?" He asked the soldier, trying to keep a steady voice._

_The soldier seemed amused at the question. "Well that's how it seems, but let's see." He then looks straight at Hawkeye. "Tell me miss, you're not really happy to be here, are you? Well you don't appear to be."_

_From the corner of Roy's eye he could see the blonde woman looking a bit guilty with herself, and the soldier didn't seemed to notice or care as he kept going with his speech,_

_"But can you honestly tell me in that split second when you take down an enemy, you don't allow yourself to feel the slightest tinge of satisfaction and pride in your skills? Well miss marksmen?"_

_Without even knowing how he got over there in the first place, Roy grabbed him by his collar, giving him a shake. "That's enough, Kimblee!" He snapped with anger. Major or not, he wasn't going to let him make her feel anymore guilty then she already is._

_The soldier, Kimblee, looking completely dumbfounded as he stared into Roy's dying eyes. "I'll tell you what I don't get. Did you people expect something different? You act like you're surprised, like you didn't choose this."_

_Roy quietly gasps, those words taking a knife to his heart._

_"Did you put on that uniform thinking you wouldn't be asked to kill?" Kimblee continued, standing up. "The one thing worse than death is to avert your eyes from it. Look straight at the people you kill, don't take your eyes off them for a second, **and don't ever forget them; Because I promise they won't forget you."**_

.

.

.

.

Those words struck hard, because that psychopath was right… Did his victim's really remember him after death? He was starting to think he was right, and it made him a bit lucky that he didn't have a great photographic memory, or otherwise this would be ten times worse. And maybe that's what drove Kimblee mad and got him locked away in prison for life.

At least,

He's supposed to be.

That man scared the living daylights out of anyone who crossed him, and Roy thought he would never have to see him again, and wished that the universe could have kept that from happening. However, it didn't, because here he was standing in front of his subordinate, holding a gun to the ex-state alchemist; The Crimson Lotus Alchemist, Solf J. Kimblee.

Kimblee stood in front of them a few feet away, cocking his head in a taunting way before saying, "Roy Mustang and Edward Elric. I finally found you both."

Roy's breath got caught in his throat as he said their names. _"How does he know about Edward? That's not possible. And how the hell is here?"_

Roy grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes, while tightening the grip on his gun. He felt the sense to protect the young boy behind him, not wanting the crazy man to lay a hand on him. "Tell me why you're here, and don't you even _dare_ take another fucking step, Kimblee, or I shoot your eye out."

***Break***

Ed honestly thought that they were finally going to have a moment of peace after his commanding officer's troubling tale, but no… of course not. Why would the universe give them a break?

"So…. You're this world's doppelgangers?"

The new voice caught them both off guard as they jumped to their feet, searching the area. He didn't recognize the voice, and he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Colonel?" He said, quickly. He wanted to see if the older man knew who it was.

"To be honest, I'm a little underwhelmed." The voice called out again.

Nope. It still wasn't familiar. However, when he noticed his boss tense up and ended up getting shoved behind him.

"Get behind me!" Roy yelled, and Ed swore he heard fear in his voice. He also watched him draw out his gun and point in the direction of the voice.

"Colonel?" He said again, a hint of worry in his undertone. Even though the great Flame alchemist was keeping a straight and serious face, he could tell he was scared just by looking in his eyes.

"Stay behind me." Roy ordered, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

Soon, they both heard the crushing of leaves under someone's boot, and the silhouette finally turned into a person, and they stood a few feet away and said, "Roy Mustang and Edward Elric. I finally found you both."

Ed tensed up a bit, looking upon the man with ratty clothes and long greasy hair. _"This guy knows our names. Why? And how?"_ He wanted to ask the Colonel who this guy was since he seemed to know him, but the words he heard next shocked him.

"Tell me why you're here, and don't you even _dare_ take another fucking step, Kimblee, or I shoot your eye out." Roy replies, so cold, so bitter.

Ed felt a chill run up his spine at those words. Never in his four years of working with the Colonel, he's never heard that tone before. He's heard anger, he's heard cautious, he's heard concern, loving, friendly, playful, stern, and just earlier he heard the Colonel sound vulnerable. Vulnerable. He never thought he would hear that one, but this tone of voice was the one that took the cake. It scared him and it was hard to scare him after seeing so many horrible things in life.

Kimblee looked a bit taken back, stopping in his place and held his hands up in defense. "Okay, I won't. Relax, won't you? I didn't think you'd be so uptight." He replies, truthfully.

Roy growled, and Ed placed a hand on his back, sparing a glance.

"Colonel, who is he?" The boy asked, trying to hold back his own fear from showing.

Roy's eyes quickly darted away and looked back at the war criminal in front of him before answering, "His name's Solf J. Kimblee, an ex-state alchemist. He was sent to prison after Ishval for being a war criminal, and has been there since. He's the main reason why Scar is killing all the state alchemists, _Kimblee's_ the main reason why most of the Ishvalans are dead. It's sickening, this guy is a real psychopath."

"Oh, so that's what I've done, huh?" Kimblee replies, sounding so innocent. "I never would have guessed."

Roy growled again, holding down more on the trigger. "Seriously? You're just going to stand there and pretend that you don't know what you've done?! You have got to be fucking kidding me right now?!"

"Frankly, _Mustang._ I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have any memories of what you're talking about."

God, Roy hated how innocent he sounded, it made his blood boil. "What? Like you have amnesia or something?"

"I honestly don't see what Ed sees in you, you're not a very likeable person, Mustang." Kimblee says, ignoring the question. It was his turn to glare.

 _"What?"_ Roy hissed bitterly.

Ed stared in a haze of confusion, wondering what the hell is wrong with this guy. _"What the hell is this guy's problem? Is he trying to get Mustang to shoot him?"_ He looks up at his commanding officer. _"Would he?"_

"Ed is always going on and on about what a great guy you are, and I honestly don't see what he's talking about." Kimblee continues, making the other raven haired man tense up.

Roy snapped his head around, eyes holding a bit of anger and betrayal. "You've talked to him?!" He said, in disbelief.

Now it was Ed's turned to tense up. "What? No! I never even heard of him, let alone met him." He replies, shaking his head, while his long hair sticks to his unknowingly sweaty skin.

"So he's _lying?"_ Roy faces Kimblee again, the anger turning back towards him. "Why the fuck are you lying? And how do you know about Edward? I want the truth this time, I don't want any more mind games."

Kimblee raised an eyebrow. "Do I hear a sense of protection in your voice? Do you actually care for this boy?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I care for him, I care for everyone under my command."

"Yes, I get that, but I'm just talking about Ed here. Do you care about the boy? Yes or no?"

"Yes. Like I just told you, it's yes."

"No. I mean do you _really_ care for him? He's always talking about how great you are, and he would do _anything_ to make sure you're alive; Would you do the same?"

"What the hell are you talking about? He just told you his answer!" Ed cuts in. He just didn't understand what the point was in all this. If it was to piss the Colonel off, then he's doing a fan- _fucking_ -tastic job.

"You know exactly what I am implying, Mustang." Kimblee said, ignoring the blonde. He kept his eyes locked with the Colonel's. "I'll be blunt about it and ask you one more time. Would you, or would you not, lay your life down for the boy behind you?"

Ed froze. _"Would he?"_ He thought, fearing the answer. His amber orbs trailed back up the Colonel's back, having a hard time to get a good look at the man's face that was covered by a shadow. He knew the man cared greatly for his subordinates, but would he go so far to lay down his own life to guarantee their survival? _"Would he?"_

_**"I'm giving you one order to obey, Fullmetal. You're not allowed to die before I do."** _

The teen could feel himself pale at the oldest memory he had of the man, it was one of his very first orders ever. _"He would."_ Ed swallowed, and fought the urge to spin the man around and yell at him for the answer. _"How could he even think that? Is he really that self-less?"_

"Colonel?" He croaked. He said it so quietly, he could barely hear it himself.

There was a long pause, and both Kimblee and Ed were about to give up hope before Roy's voice broke through.

"I would." He said, so calmly.

Ed gasps. "Colonel!"

"I would though. If it guarantees that he'll live after doing so, then I would do it in a heartbeat." Roy's grip tightened on the gun, but he shook slightly at the thought of losing his family. "My subordinates are not allowed to die before me, as long as they're under my commandment, then they're not. I won't allow it. I'll _never_ allow it."

"Colonel." He was speechless, and so was Kimblee. That is… until he started laughing.

Both Ed and Roy eyed the man weirdly, both stunned and uncomfortable at the situation. The murderous, psychotic, ex-state alchemist was laughing like the whole thing was a funny joke.

"Why is he laughing?" Ed whispers, shifting his stance to stand closer to Mustang.

"I don't know…" Roy whispers back.

"Hey! Why the hell are you laughing! You think this is some kind of sick joke!?"

Kimblee waved them off. "My apologies, that probably gave you the wrong message." He replies, smiling.

"You think!?" Ed barks back.

"It's just that _my_ Edward can be a bit too trusting, and I wanted to see if you were worthy of helping him out, that's all."

"Wait… _My Edward?"_ Roy replies, puzzled by the whole thing. "What do you mean by that?"

"My name is Solf J. Kimblee, but I am not in prison, nor am I a state alchemist, see?" He holds up his hands, showing off his palms, ones that were not covered in ink.

"There's… no tattoos."

"Exactly, because I'm not this world's Kimblee. I'm from another universe."

Roy's eyes widened slightly. "You're a doppelganger?"

"Precisely. I work with the rebel leader, Edward Elric. And I'm here to help."

"Wait…" Roy begins,

"You're working with…" Ed starts,

"William?!" They yelled in unison.

The two of them both thought that yesterday was the worst day yet, but now…. They're thinking this is going to be the worst. And it even worsened when Kimblee nodded 'Yes'.

Great.

More Drama for Team Mustang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sigh* Kimblee's a troll... and an ass. How do you think this is going to work out now that he's hear? Tell me in the comments if you have a theory. Thanks for reading as always!


	16. Somewhat Calm Before The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “They’re here. The doppelgangers are here at the Central Commands.”
> 
> And just like that…
> 
> Hughes dropped the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I had some majors writers block. But good news though, I have some ideas for the next few chapters and it should be easy to write (and maybe it won't take so long?).
> 
> Also, if you're a fan of the Witcher TV series I wrote a FMA AU with Roy as Geralt and Hughes as Jaskier. So check it out if you'd like. Plus, check out my three part series about Ed and Al's sister ("I Hold No Heartbeat" series). 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!
> 
> **No trigger warnings for today (surprisingly).**

“So, nobody’s questioning the blood?” Hughes asked over the phone. He had just gotten back inside, giving the state alchemists by the lake some alone time. There was no doubt that these last three days had gotten to everyone. 

_“No. It’s really strange though.”_ Armstrong said, speaking in a low voice since he went back to work to try sort out the mess from last night. The fight between Fuery and Hawkeye vs her doppelganger was quite the scare for all of them.

“What’s really strange?” 

_“Nobody’s questioning anything. Not even those guards who pulled Lieutenant Hawkeye out of the water. It’s really strange, Colonel.”_

Hughes stroked his chin, thinking. “That really is strange.” Why would no one question anything from last night? Like, Why did Hawkeye fall in the water? Or why was their blood in the filing room? How come no one came forward to ask any questions? “Something doesn’t seem right.”

_“I feel the same way. But I’m not sure what to do.”_

“Well just keep doing what you’re doing, Major. I’ll try to think of something.”

_“Will do. However, not to sound rude or anything, but I think we might have to pick up the pace with sending young William home. The longer it takes, the longer those doppelgangers are here. I have a feeling that this is there doing.”_

Hughes frowns. Could the doppelgangers be in HQ again, and that’s why nobody’s questioning anything? “William thinks he’s figured it out. He’s setting up his proposal as we speak.”

_“Then I won’t keep you. Help that kid get home as soon as possible.”_

“I will.” He hangs up the phone and signs, rubbing his temples. He wishes he was home with his wife and was curled up together in their warm bed as he gets the sleep he deserves. But he knew that wasn’t going to happen until he got a certain blonde home. Another long sigh came from his chapped lips before he turned on his heels and headed into the room where everyone was.

Everyone had gathered in the room where the injured were, all spread out on chairs and couches. Hawkeye had managed to sit up a bit, making room so that Havoc could sit by her feet. Fuery was finally awake, and although he looked like he was a bit high on the pain medicine, he was still pretty alert on what was going on. On the opposite side of the room, William had transmuted himself a large board which he was currently scribbling on. 

Al saw Hughes walk in and asked, “Hey, Mr. Hughes, have you seen Brother and the Colonel around?” A hint of concern in his voice.

Hughes smiled softly, one that he used on Elicia when she was worried. “I saw them together outside. They’re… talking and need some space.” He replies, truthfully. “We can start without them.”

“Good.” William said, turning to face them. “Because I think I figured it out.”

“You did?” Kain perked up, eyeing the boy with his dilated eyes.

He nods.“Yeah.” He moved out of the way, showing off his drawing. He had a few alchemy circles in the corner of the board, but what really had everyone’s attention was the two giant circles he drew with a bridge between them. He points at them with his marker. “For those who don’t know, when I traveled through space I accidentally created a rift which is still open. That rift is the reason our doppelgangers are here, and from my understanding it’s still open. Which is good, because it’ll be easier for me to get back to my universe.”

“So it’s like a gateway?” Jean asked, studying the board.

“Correct.”

“So if it’s obviously open, why didn’t you leave already?” Riza asked, hoping she wasn’t sounding too rude. Not that she didn’t want him to be here, but the kid needed to get home as soon as he could and he seemed like he already knew how. So why hasn’t he left yet?

William looks at all of them, twisting the maker in his hand. “Here’s where it gets tricky. Due to the soldiers on the other side of the rift, I can’t simply travel back home without being killed by one of them; So I have to travel through _space_ and _time_ in _one_ go.”

The adults blinked, immediately losing precious brain cells. 

“Huh?” Heymans said, raising an eyebrow.

“I know it sounds weird, but it’s the only chance I have at not dying.” William continues. He draws a line from this world to his. “When I activate the circle, I’ll travel back to my world while using a small percentage of the stone so I don’t overshot it, and then I would use it’s full power to go back five years earlier in order to save Hughes and change the timeline for good.”

“Holy shit.” Jean said, his blue eyes getting bigger.

“Five years?” Hughes chimed, taking a good look at the doppelganger. “Wait, how old are you?”

“Me? I’m twenty.” William replies, a little surprised by his question. He was rewarded by gawking stares and opened jaws.

“So I was right, you are older than Brother.” Al said, recalling a conversation that him and Ed had a few nights ago.

“Indeed I am.” He gives a sad chuckle while touching his eyepatch. “I was sixteen when everything came crashing down, and I was seventeen when I started searching for a stone to use.”

They all frown with eyes full of pity. They hated how small and fragile he sounded when he spoke of his hard times.

“William…” Riza begins with her motherly tone.

“It’s fine.” He looks back at all of them, looking serious once more. “Anymore questions?” 

“I have one.” Vato said, raising his hand. “What would happen to our doppelgangers? Would they remain here even after you go through the rift?”

William looked a bit guilty for a moment, shoulders sagging. “Actually…. That’s something I wanted to talk to you guys about.”

“What is it?” Al said, curiosity spiked in his words.

“Well, when I travel back, I modified the circle so that this world would reset three days earlier.”

“Three days ago is when you arrived, right?” Hughes asked, thinking.

William nods. “Yep. By doing this, the doppelgangers would disappear from this world, and these last three days would be like they had never had existed.”

“So what’s wrong with that? No doppelganger sounds great.” Kain chimed in, relief that he’ll no longer have a bullet wound in his leg.

The rebel’s good eye fell to the floor, frowning. “It would be, but if I reset the timeline here, you guys might not remember what happened, you _might_ wake up with no memories of what happened in these last three days.”

Silence fell and everyone looked at each other. William felt bad with the decision he was making, but he knew he had to reset the timeline in both worlds if this was going to work.

“No memories?” Jean said, quietly.

“So we won’t remember even meeting you?” Al asks, in disbelief.

“It’s a change. Who knows if you will or will not, but I just want to prepare you guys that’ll it might happen” William said, truthfully, throwing them back into a pit of silence.

What felt like an internaty, Hughes broke it with an expression and voice of concern. 

“What about you? Will you lose your memories?” He asked, shifting his stance uncomfortably.

The blonde shakes his head. “No. Since I’m the one doing all of this, I’m going to remember _everything._ I’ll remember this world, the time/space travel, and the last five years. While my friends back home lose their memories of their terrible past, I will remember mine.” 

Heymans shot straight up from his chair. “Seriously?! You won’t forget anything?” He asked, madly. Not at the boy, but judging by his past, it probably would be torture remembering the horrible timeline.

“Nope. I’ll be forced to remember.” He sighs. “Is that okay with everyone? Are you guys okay with me doing that at the risk of all you losing your memories?” 

Everyone glanced at each other again and wondered… did they want to lose their memories? Sure, the last three days haven’t been so great between meeting their insane look alikes, going into hiding, and getting injured. However, the other part of them wanted to remember this. To remember William and what could happen if they let rage defy you, and allow you to recall the demons of your path. Should they even forget this all? They opened their mouths to speak-

“If that’s what it takes, then maybe you should.” 

They faced the doorway which had Roy standing there along with Edward. They couldn’t help but notice their puffy eyes and flushed cheeks on their serious faces (now they were wondering what had happened outside with their “talk”). 

“Roy, Ed. You’re back.” Hughes said, quickly noticing that they looked a bit tense too.

Both Alchemists ignored the man as they both stared at the rebel leader in the room. “William, we’ve got something for you. _Someone actually_.” Roy replies, his undertone was stiff and everyone in the room picked up on the way he shifted a bit closer to Edward. Why though?

William looked confused. “Who?”

“Me of course.” Kimblee’s voice sang, circling around the alchemists to face the people present.

The adults wasted no time to spring to their feet, drawing their guns, and stepping in front of Alphonse and William. Even Riza who was laying on the couch wasted no time to pull out a gun she hid between the couch cushions.

“Whoa! What the fuck!?” Jean yelled, scared and angry.

“Why the fuck is he here?!” Hughes yelled, throwing daggers at the man with his cold green eyes. 

“How is he here?!” Riza added, coping the Lieu. Colonel expression.

Kimblee seemed unfazed by the firearms in his face, just smiling like the crazy man he was. William however perked up and brushed past the adults. “Kimblee?” He said, wondering if this was real.

“You know this guy?!” Kain yelled, stunned but never took his eyes off the man in white.

Roy held a hand up, a silent command of telling them to put their guns down. “Relax. This isn’t the Kimblee we all know from war, this is actually his doppelganger, and a subordinate to William.” He replies, his voice still unnerved.

They looked surprised. “Wait, what?” Heymans stuttered.

“It’s true. This is the Kimblee I know.” William chimed in, he glanced back at them. “It’s okay, you can put your guns down.” They didn’t exactly put them away, just lowered them slightly as they continued to glare at the man. William wanted to protest, but decided against it seeing how angry they looked. He glanced back at an old friend of his. “Kimblee, what the heck are you doing here?”

“I saw that the transmutation circle was still activated, and I saw that the Fuhrer and his men went through and got a bit worried for you.” Kimblee replies, truthfully. “When I saw that it wasn’t closing anytime soon, I decided to follow. However I ended up here in this world, and on the other side of Central. I’ve been trying to find you for the last three days now, it was hard, I’m not going to lie.”

“And he ran into me and the Colonel outside, scaring the living daylights out of us.” Ed butts in, crossing his arms in an attempt to make him look cooler. But anybody who knew the boy really well didn’t miss the way he leaned a bit closer to the flame alchemist.

“I said I was sorry.” Kimblee said, happily which earned a groan from the blonde teenager.

Suddenly the house phone started ringing, and Hughes wondered if the Major was calling with an update. He sighs, putting his gun back in his holster. “You guys stay here and sort this out, I’ll go answer the phone. It might be Major Armstrong.” 

He shifted his direction walking around the man who gave him a visible chill up his spine. He brushed past Roy in the doorway who gave a settled glance that told him _‘I don’t trust this man’_ or it meant _‘I’m a little scared right now’._ Either way it was bad news, and he couldn’t blame him for either. 

He set the old war criminal on the back burner in his mind as he grabbed the phone off the receiver in the hallway. “Lieutenant Colonel Hughes speaking.” 

_“They’re here.”_ The voice of the muscular alchemist said on the other side.

Hughes froze, pretty sure that he heart just stopped. “What?” No. He couldn’t possibly have heard that right, it can’t be true. 

_“They’re here. The doppelgangers are here at the Central Commands.”_

And just like that…

Hughes dropped the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final battle against the doppelgangers are here, and things are about to heat up. However, here is some bittersweet news to my readers. There is only just a few chapters left, about five or six, maybe more. But don't worry, there will be a  
> epilogue and a sequel for this story, so be on the lookout for that when this is over. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading as always! I'll see you soon.


	17. A Villain's Endgame For Vengeance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "-And then it hit me…” His knuckles turned pure white against the handle. “I think he might have _**killed**_ him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warning surprisingly (unless you count Evil Roy's mind a trigger).

Hughes dropped the phone. 

Hughes dropped it with his heartbeat in his mouth.

They were here. They were at the command center.

_“Is that…”_ He choked, thinking harder. _“Is that why nobody was questioning anything at the base? Did our doppelgangers tell everyone that it was fine? Is that what’s been going on? Why are they doing this? What’s their endgame here?”_

_“Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?”_ The voice of Armstrong said from the now dangling phone.

Hughes snapped out of his trance, quickly grabbing the phone. “I’m sorry, I’m here.” He hoped his voice didn’t sound too shaky. “What do you mean they’re at the base?”

_“I saw all of them, and from the looks of it they were heading to Fuhrer Bradley’s office.”_

“Fuhrer Bradley? Why would he….?” He gasps, eyes shrinking. “He couldn’t be…”

_“Lieu. Colonel?”_

Hughes grit his teeth. “No way...He can’t be…” He grips the phone tighter, a certain memory playing back in his mind. “Fuck!”

_“Lieu. Colonel Hughes? What is it? What did you figure out?!”_

“It’s about William and what he said to me when we first met back in the warehouse…”

_**“-From that day,the officer’s rage helped him move in the ranks, eventually overthrowing the Fuhrer and becoming the most feared man in the whole country-”** _

“He told me that the other Roy overthrew the Fuhrer, but the more I look back at it, the more I wondered how? How would someone like Fuhrer Bradley back off so easily? And then it hit me…” His knuckles turned pure white against the handle. “I think he might have _**killed**_ him.”

Over the line, Armstrong sucked in a breath, growing rather pale against his fair complexion. _“You don’t think he’s here to kill our Fuhrer, do you?”_

Hughes bit the tip of his finger nervously. “It’s just a theory, I could be completely wrong. However, why else would he be there? Why would the other doppelgangers show up now? Unless… they’re trying to draw William out.”

_“But why would William be drawn out like that by the Fuhrer?”_

“Because William is exactly like our Edward, he’s always trying to save somebody, even the enemy. If saving the Fuhrer means giving up his life to do so, then William would.”

A pause. 

_“My god… I never thought of it like that.”_

Another pause, and Hughes enough time to think before the Major spoke again.

_“What’s the plan?”_

“Well if they’re going to try to draw William out, then there’s no way the rest of us are going to sit back and let him go alone.” Hughes replies, his nerves simmering down. “Major, try to see if there’s any way you can slow him down. I’m going to alert the others and try to come up with a plan.”

_“I’ll see what I can do. Good luck to you all.”_

“Same goes for you. Be careful.”

He hangs up the phone and grips his hair with a heavy sigh. This day couldn't get any worse. Possible memories lost, Another Kimblee, a possible murder attempt on their Fuhrer, this day just keeps gettiing worse, and worse.

And it’s going to get a whole lot worse….

***Break***

“I’ll see what I can do. Good luck to you all.” Armstrong said, holding the phone tightly, his body shaking in fear.

_“Same goes for you. Be careful.”_ Hughes said over the line, and the phone went dead shortly after. 

Armstrong placed the phone back on the receiver, still feeling the tip of the blade against the nape of his neck. His family would be ashamed if they saw him in this state, cowering on the floor, staring at a wall with guilt of lying to a commanding officer.

“Did he fall for it?” A voice behind him said, the one holding the deadly weapon.

He nods slowly. “Yes… he did.” He turns around to face a familiar face, one that had a bandage over his left eye, and a faux Colonel uniform.

“Good.” Fuhrer Roy said, smirking mischievously. 

“Now please, let Miss Winry go. That was the deal.”

Roy cocked his head to the side, looking over to where Captain Hawkeye had a barrel pressed in the poor girl’s forehead. He then glanced back to the Major’s pleading eyes, and gave in. He sighs. “I guess that’s fine, you did hold up your end of the bargain.”

Hawkeye then tossed Winry by her collar into the state alchemist’s arms, which he gladly welcomed. She was shaking to her core, desperately trying to grab onto his uniform with her bound hands as she sobs muffley from the gag they tied around her mouth. Tears pricked out of her eyes, as the man held her closer.

“Why?” Armstrong asked, looking back at the doppelganger who was putting his sword away. “Why did you do this to her? To cut her hair and scar her face?”

“Just some changes to Miss Rockbell to get Edward to come pay me a visit, that’s all.” Roy said proudly, with an evil glint in his eyes.

“But why? What exactly is your plan? Your endgame here? Why must you go through all this extreme measures-”

“Like killing your _own_ Fuhrer Bradley?” 

A pause, and he could feel Winry shaking again. Armstrong gluped. “Y-yes….”

The evil Roy of course smiled. “Yes, I guess that’s another thing my and your world has in common, our Fuhrer’s were both Homunculus-” His eyes trailed to the pile of ashes next to his feet, and tiny pieces of red that used to be the philosopher’s stone. “-Such a shame, he didn’t even put up a fight like the last one.”

Roy let himself smell the burning scent that was still lingering in the air, as he started peeling the white bandage off his eye.

Armstrong tightened his grip on the girl. “I don’t understand, how though? If he was a homunculus, how did you out of all people kill him?”

“Easy.” He shrugs out of his top half of his uniform. “All you have to do is suck all the oxygen out of the room, and turn it up a couple hundred degrees, then you have yourself a killing machine. Too bad that everyone was at Mandatory Training, or otherwise I would have guns pointing at my face.” 

Armstrong was surprised by the words coming out of his mouth, “You’re a monster. Even this world’s Colonel Mustang wouldn’t do that.” 

“Well that’s because he’s weak. ‘Hero of Ishval’, my ass. If you want to win the war, you have to do it at any cost.” Falman handed him his Fuhrer jacket which he then slid on.

“War? Are you saying this is all just a war between you and your Edward Elric?”

“Of course. There’s a war going in my world anyway, so why not bring it here too? I mean, Elric’s already figure how to open rifts between worlds, so why not use that to my advantage?” He rakes his fingers into his hair, slicking back, completing his look. “So while I go prepare for more rifts to open, my subordinates here will keep an eye on the two of you.” He starts heading for the door, stopping short to cup the blonde girl’s chin, making her look at him. “And when I’m done, I’m coming back to get you.”

Her pupils shrunk and she wiggled away, falling back into the alchemist’s embrace. Armstrong scowled, “Damn you…” He whispered, harshly.

Roy chuckled, and opened the door, sparing another glance. “Oh, and Major?” Hateful blue eyes faced his charcoal and smoky gray one, and his smile grew again. “That window over there has a clear shot of the training field, if you value the lives of Sergeant Brosh, or Lieutenant Ross, or anybody else down there, I suggest you don’t do anything drastic; I do have one hell of a sniper on my team.”

He closed the door, and only then did Armstrong feel like he might cry himself.

***Break***

A metal fist hit the table hard. 

“You can’t be serious?!” William blurted out, frustrated. 

“So they’re at Central Command, and they’re planning to kill the Fuhrer?” Heymans asked, gripping his ginger hair in distress. 

“It’s just a guess, but they _could_ be.” Hughes chimed in, reminding them of his wild guest about the doppelgangers’ plan.

“Yeah, but still, they’re at Central.” 

Roy sighs, shifting his stance uncomfortably. “What are we going to do?”

William scowled, and moved away from the table, facing everyone in the room. “The only thing that we can do, I gotta turn myself in!”

Ed shook his head at his older look alike. “What?! No way! You’re going to get killed!” 

“Well I have to do something! I can’t just stand here and let that happen!”

“What about the circle? Can’t you just draw it real quick and be on your way?” Kain asked, wincing a bit when he moved his leg.

The Rebel shook his head. “That’ll take time since it’s so complicated, and I’m not even sure if it’s going to be hundred percent accurate, I could still mess it up and not change anything, and then what? Your world is plagued by evil doppelgangers and your Fuhrer ends up dying? I have to go there.”

“William, that’s insane. Think about what you’re about to do, it's a sucide mission.” Jean says, calmly. 

“I have, and I’ve decided I’m going. If your world ends up in disarray like mine then I would _never_ be able to live with myself.”

“William-” Riza begins, also trying to get the boy to stop and think.

He shakes his head again. “No, I have to-

“Um, I don’t mean to interrupt but… the sky’s red…” Al’s quiet, and child-like voice broke through the arguing bunch, freezing them in their tracks. They all glanced at the suit of armor staring out the window.

“Wait, did you just say the sky was red?” Vato asked, confusedly.

“Yeah. It’s weird…and kind of morbid.”

“Red sky?” William mumbled, before his gold and green orbs turned into saucers. “Oh no…” He bolted out the room, and pushed open the grand entrance door, stopping a few feet away. He gasps, and his eye sets on the red blaze in the once blue sky. “Oh no…” He muttered again, just as he could hear the others arriving behind him. 

“What’s up with the sky?” Ed asked, his voice at the tip of being scared.

“They’re rifts opening up.” Kimblee stated, glancing over at his boss. “Aren’t they?”

William nods slowly. “They are. Fuck… this must of been Mustang’s true plan.”

“Which is what exactly?” Roy asked, feeling a wave of unknown bitterness towards his look alike.

“There’s a gateway between our worlds, and anyone who goes on the transmutation circle gets sent here.”

“But I don’t remember the sky being red when you and the others arrived a few days ago.” Al said, with another sense of confusion. 

“A transmutation circle is still a transmutation circle; The longer it stays activated, the more unstable it gets because there’s no one controlling it. It has been three days since I’ve activated it.”

Suddenly they winced at the wind that picked up, feeling like a tornado might sweep by at any moment. 

“Jeez, this wind is going to blow us away!” Jean complaint, the wind hurting his face.

“We have to get to the command center, that place is going to be overrun by soldiers from my world, and you don’t want that.” William replies, ready to leave the mansion. 

“No, you need to stay here and get to work.” Roy ordered, steading himself from being blown away.

“No way, I need to go! Those guys are going to slaughter you If I don’t show up.”

“William-”

“Look, when I know everything’s okay, I’ll just activate it there.” 

“William-”

“I’m _not_. Changing. My. Mind.” 

The two of them exchange hard stares, which didn’t last long because sleep debrief Roy gave in. He sighed, “Why are all the Edward Elric’s so stubborn?” He faces the rest of his team, who seemed to struggle against the wind as well. “Gentlemen, listen up, we’re going to HQ, but someone needs to stay here with Hawkeye and Fue-”

“We’re coming with, sir.” Riza replies, coming out the door with Kain leaning against her. 

“Yeah, we’re going, with or without your permission.” Kain replies, dead serious.

“William is not the only stubborn one here, sir.”

Roy frowned, feeling his eye twitched as he looked at his best friend. Hughes caught his eye and shrugged. “Don’t look at me, they’re yours.” He replies, making the flame alchemist sigh.

“Fine. You can come.” His subordinates nod. “Alright, let’s get moving! We can’t waste anymore time!”

With their guns and other useful weapons, they all split off into three separate cars before bolting down the road towards their place of work. The ones driving kept tight grips on the steering wheels as they drove against the wind, keeping their eyes peeled for anything tumbling in their way, or civilians who were trying to run home.

Breaking all laws, liking driving on sidewalks or going over the speed limit (like _way-way-way_ over), they ended up arriving in a short amount of time. The drivers hit the brakes, and they threw their doors open, hissing at the hurting air. 

“Jesus Christ!!!” Heymans yelled, his eyes burning.

“Lieutenant, help me get Hawkeye and Fuery out!” Hughes said, and the two of them worked on holding the door open long enough. 

“Everyone press against the wall and get inside! And stay close to one another!” Roy ordered, waving them to get in a line. 

“Colonel! Watch out!” Al yelled from somewhere.

He heard a loud creaking noise. “Huh?” Immediately he was enveloped in two arms, and being covered by a suit of metal. The creaking noise got louder and louder, just as a light pole came crashing down and landing on top of the fourteen year old.

“ALPHONSE!!!” Ed yelled, stopping where he walked against the wall.

“Al?!” Roy yelled fearfully from under him.

“I’m fine, it just chipped my armor a bit.” Al replies, truthfully, still holding onto the Colonel.

“Are you sure?!”

“Yes. Now get against the wall!” 

The kid shoved him towards the other, and even then Roy couldn’t take his eyes off him. _“Note to self, reward Al for saving your life somehow.”_

Al’s heroic moment didn’t end when Hughes and Heymans asked for his help getting the two injured out the car. They worked quickly enough, and they all pushed themselves against the brick wall of the command center, trying to block out the wind until they were standing right in front of the entrance. They desperately used all of their strength to open the doors and run inside. They sighed with relief, trying to calm their racing heartbeats.

“There’s no guards at the front.” Vato pointed out, feeling worried about this whole thing.

Hughes frowns. “This might be a trap.” He stated, his guts twisting in knots at the thought of it. 

“You’re right, it might be.” A voice said.

They all stood up straight, grabbing their weapons. Standing at the halfway point on the staircase was the scarred faced Fuhrer, or some people like to call him, ‘The Blood King’.

“Mustang.” William said, a mixture of worry and fear in his voice.

“So you actually showed up? I’m not surprised though, you always follow me like a puppy.” He said, hatred in his eyes.

“What do you want? What exactly is your plan here? I know you don’t want to just kill me any more.”

The Evil Roy laughed, “Oh Elric, so smart. You always seem to figure things out so soon. So-” He holds his arm open wide. “Welcome to Central Commands, a perfect place to start a war, and perfect place to fight a battle, a perfect place…”

He smiles mischievously.

**“-For the endgame.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> And scene.....  
> Stay tuned to find out what happens next!


End file.
